


Meet Me in the Middle of the Night

by benvoliotheorphan, pocketsquid



Series: Meet Me [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games), The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cheesy, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Fluff, Holoforms (Transformers), Ignores Lost Light, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Romance, Secret Identity, Some adult language, Suggestive Themes, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Written Pre-Kingdom Hearts III, Xeno, wingmen to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 43,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26051728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benvoliotheorphan/pseuds/benvoliotheorphan, https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocketsquid/pseuds/pocketsquid
Summary: When Drift and Terra see the spark of love that ignites between Rodimus and Aqua, they know there's only one logical thing to do: work together to be the best wingmen possible, of course! They make for a pretty good team, and luckily, it doesn't take much for them to nudge their friends in the right direction.As they get to know each other better, Drift finds himself falling hard and fast for Terra. He's quietly hoping for something more than friendship, and does his best to show his interest without being too pushy, but being subtle never was his strong suit. Terra, on the other hand, can't figure out why his heart nearly leaps out of his chest whenever Drift smiles, but he's happy to spend more time with him to try and get some answers.(This fic takes place a few years after KH3 and sometime vaguely before Lost Light. It was written before KH3 came out and without any regard to Lost Light, so there are no spoilers for either series. It's meant to be read alongsideMeet Me in the Middle of the Day, but can also be read on its own.)
Relationships: Aqua & Terra & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua/Rodimus (background), Drift | Deadlock & Rodimus | Rodimus Prime, Drift/Terra
Series: Meet Me [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1891117
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you for clicking on our fic for crackships that we came up with a few years back! As stated in the summary, this fic is meant to be read alongside _Meet Me in the Middle of the Day_. 
> 
> Shout out to a very dear friend who was kind enough to be our beta reader for this project!
> 
> Thanks again for tuning in, and we hope you enjoy!

The weather was warm and humid, the world's twin suns hanging high in the sky. A cool breeze blew in from the ocean waves, and Terra found himself relishing in the feeling. The heat was enough to work up a sweat on its own, and the added effort of playing volleyball did little to help matters, but Terra was still having fun.

After a week of almost nonstop travel, he, Aqua, and Ventus finally arrived on the far off world, all quite eager to start their much-needed vacation. Once they’d gotten some time to recover from the arduous journey, they’d decided to hit this world’s most popular attraction: the beach.

Luckily, the volleyball courts weren’t occupied, so Terra and his friends decided to play for a little while - though, at the moment, Aqua had the ball and was taking a considerable amount of time to wipe the sweat from her brow.

"Come on, Aqua!" Terra called, arms crossed and a cocky smirk on his face. "Toss the ball over! Or are you giving up already?"

Ven snickered from his spot on the sidelines, waiting for his turn to play. Aqua shot Terra an unamused look, crouching down a bit as she prepared to start the next round.

"Not even close," she replied, finally tossing the ball into the air and jumping after it.

Terra heard her hand strike the ball, but he was quickly distracted by a headful of bright red hair passing in front of him. The man it belonged to stumbled through the middle of the court, eyes glued on a frisbee he was trying desperately to catch, completely oblivious to his surroundings.

Before Terra or any of his friends could really react, the volleyball smacked right into the stranger’s head, knocking him unconscious with a resounding _thunk_. He fell to the ground in a heap and Aqua was at his side in an instant, worry etched onto her face.

"Did Aqua just _kill_ that guy?" Ven cried, hopping onto his feet and rushing over to where Terra was standing.

"No, she didn’t kill him. I’m sure he’s fine," Terra assured his friend with a firm pat on the shoulder.

Another man arrived on the scene then, this one with long white hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. He took in the redhead’s condition with a grave look, and Terra turned to address him as well. "He’s probably just unconscious. Aqua will fix him right up."

He didn’t look all that convinced, but nodded anyway, taking a steadying breath and letting Aqua do her thing.

They watched as she cradled the man’s head carefully, using her magic to heal him. It didn’t take long for him to begin to stir, and they all let out a deep sigh of relief.

His eyes finally fluttered open, searching Aqua’s for a long moment as he came back to his senses. He eventually spoke, though his voice was too soft for Terra to hear from where he was standing. Aqua helped him sit up, watching him closely for a moment before responding.

"I accidentally hit you with a volleyball," she told him, offering him an apologetic smile.

Terra snorted. "Yeah, she knocked you out cold," he said. His voice seemed to startle the redhead, who looked over to where Terra, Ven, and the other man were standing.

His eyes darted back to Aqua’s, slowly raising a hand to rub at the side of his head where he’d been hit. "You must have a hell of a strong arm if you knocked me out cold like that," he remarked with a small smile. "You and Drift would get along well."

With that, he shot a glare at the other man - Drift, Terra presumed - who frowned and ducked his head with shame.

"Yeah... I’m really sorry for hitting you - by the time I saw you, it was too late to stop the ball," Aqua said, drawing his attention again. "Is there... any way I can make it up to you?"

The redhead’s gaze softened as he looked at her, his mouth opening and closing a few times. Ever since he’d woken up, he seemed to be in a bit of a daze. At first, Terra figured it was because the guy was still adjusting to his surroundings, but now that he saw the way he was looking at Aqua, well...

He almost seemed _mesmerized_ by her, if Terra was honest with himself. Aqua either didn’t notice or she didn’t mind it, regarding him with a light, friendly smile.

The man’s stomach spoke up before he could, causing a bright flush to rush to his cheeks. "Actually... are you guys cool with grabbing some lunch?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously.

Aqua beamed at him. "Of course! Buying you lunch is the least I can do."

With that, she rose to her feet, offering him a hand to stand up as well. He took it gratefully, offering her a warm grin and a sincere "thanks," once he was standing. And that’s when Terra saw it.

Aqua _blushed_.

Her cheeks remained that light shade of pink all the way through their introductions, much to Terra’s amusement. The redhead, who introduced himself as Rodimus, was quite attractive, so it made sense. Anyone would be flustered from a charming grin like that.

It was... kind of cute, Terra admitted to himself as he and his friends went about gathering their belongings. He briefly wondered if Aqua’s blush was just a fluke, embarrassment from the incident finally catching up with her, or if she had indeed noticed the way Rodimus was looking at her and reciprocated the attraction in some way.

Though, the way her eyes kept darting toward Rodimus while she packed her beach bag was rather telling.

"So, where are we headed?" Rodimus asked once they’d all gathered their things. "Drift and I just got here this morning, so we have no idea where any of the good places are."

"Honestly, we haven’t been here for long either. We just got here yesterday," Aqua explained with a smile.

"It’s our first vacation together in _forever_!" Ven chirped, delighted as ever to make some new friends. His claim was only somewhat of an exaggeration - while they’d been on a few vacations with friends over the last few years, this was their first one in quite a while with just the three of them. "I’ve never been on a world with two suns before! And this is only the second world I’ve gone to with a beach!"

Terra placed a steadying hand on Ven’s shoulder before making a suggestion. "We ate at a diner not too far from here yesterday, it was pretty good," he said. "Come on, we’ll show you the way!"

With that, he shot Aqua a knowing look, easily nudging Ven to walk by his side. This left Aqua to walk with their new friends, and he heard her chuckle nervously as he and Ven began to lead the way.

It was time for a little experiment.

Aqua was _more_ than capable of handling herself if she didn’t return Rodimus’ attraction, though Terra felt like that wasn’t the case. He suspected that she held some sort of interest in him, and this would give them a chance to talk for a little bit.

"Terra?" A small voice asked from his side.

"Hm?" Terra turned to see Ventus looking up at him, brows furrowed with confusion.

"Was... Was Rodimus flirting with Aqua? Or was he just being friendly?"

Terra nodded. "A bit of both, I think. He’s probably trying to... gauge her interest," he explained.

"Oh! Okay. That makes sense," Ven said, nodding his head as well. "He didn’t say anything that seemed... _flirty_ , but she blushed. So I wasn’t sure."

"She sure did," Terra said with a quiet chuckle, a bit amused that he wasn’t the only one who had noticed that little detail. "She seemed flustered by that smile of his."

Ven let out a quiet giggle as well. "Yeah. That wasn’t really... like her. I guess that means she’s into him too?"

Terra hummed, thinking over Ventus' question for a moment. Rodimus wasn’t lewd or pushy toward her, but the way he regarded Aqua still made it clear that he held some sort of interest in her. Aqua, on the other hand, was just as inexperienced with dating as Terra and Ventus were, so it was a little more difficult to tell how she was feeling without asking her. 

Eventually, he shrugged a shoulder, not sure how to answer. "I think she might be, but I can’t say for sure. I think we’re gonna find out when we get to lunch."

"Gotcha!" Ventus said, falling into a thoughtful silence for a long moment. His expression suddenly turned mischievous, and he grinned up at Terra.

"Do you think we can get them to sit next to each other? At the diner?" he asked.

Terra snorted. "Now _there’s_ a good idea, though... I’m not sure how to do that without being too pushy."

Ven tapped his chin, thinking it over for a moment. "Maybe I can just sit at the end of the table or the booth - like in a chair? I think we gotta get a booth, though."

"Hmm... That just might work," Terra said, patting Ven on the shoulder as they walked up to the door of the diner. "We’ll give it a go."

They turned toward Aqua, Rodimus, and Drift, who seemed to all be getting on fairly well - Aqua had a small smile on her face as she listened to Rodimus talk. Drift, meanwhile, was watching his friend with mild amusement.

"Looks like they’re hitting it off pretty well so far," Ventus remarked with a small smirk while they were still out of earshot.

"I’d say so," Terra agreed, holding the door open as the three approached so they could all enter the diner. They were directed to a corner booth, where Rodimus inadvertently changed Ven and Terra’s plan by sitting down next to Drift.

Terra quickly ducked into the other side of the booth as Ventus grabbed his extra chair, all but shoehorning Aqua in the seat across from Rodimus. She offered to switch seats with Ven, but he adapted to the new arrangement with ease, plopping down into his seat with a grin.

The conversation between Aqua and Rodimus picked back up again once they were all seated, and Terra was surprised to learn that there was more to their new friends than what met the eye. They were evidently part of a larger crew - which was lead by Rodimus, if Terra understood correctly - that was on a quest. Rodimus and Drift had chosen this world for shore leave, allowing the crew to take a bit of a break from their journey.

Terra was also surprised to see Aqua blush again - not once, but _twice_ \- before their food even got there. The first time, all Rodimus had done was wink at her. Once she’d recovered from that, he reached across the table to gently hold her hand, and she was red in the face all over again.

"How long are you guys going to be staying here?" Terra asked, both to give Aqua some time to recover from her embarrassment and to find out if they’d be able to meet again. "We’re probably going to be here a while, I think it’d be nice to hang out some more."

As it turned out, their vacations would overlap for at least a couple of weeks, much to Terra’s delight. Drift seemed to know some crewmembers that would get along with Ven, who was beyond excited by the idea of making even _more_ new friends. And, of course, this would give Aqua and Rodimus plenty of time to get to know each other better.

The thought of each of his dearest friends getting a little something extra out of this vacation warmed Terra’s heart. They’d both been through so much, and they absolutely deserved to enjoy their time off to the fullest.

Terra was pulled from his thoughts when Rodimus slid his phone number across the table to Aqua. Luckily for her, their food arrived before Terra could come up with a teasing comment, but he’d be sure to bring it up later once they all were back in their hotel room.

For now, it was time to eat. Terra found he was hungrier than he had realized, though if the focused silence that shrouded the table was anything to go by, he wasn’t the only one.

Luckily, once their initial hunger had been sated, the conversation started up again with ease. Drift and Rodimus were both friendly and made for pleasant company - Drift’s more laid-back personality contrasted with Rodimus’ outgoing nature, so they balanced each other out fairly well. It was very clear to Terra that they had a very tight bond, easily as close to each other as Terra was with Aqua and Ventus.

Rodimus was also fairly charming, and probably could have swept Aqua off her feet with ease, but he didn’t. He seemed perfectly content with small gestures, regarding Aqua carefully and watching her reactions closely.

It was... kind of ridiculous how easy it was for him to fluster her, though.

Neither Terra nor Ven had ever seen her act like this before, and it was just as entertaining as it was cute. Drift seemed just as absorbed in what his friend was up to if the fond smile on his face was anything to go by. He occasionally sent Terra and Ven amused looks, as though he was just as surprised and happy with the way things were going.

The most important thing of all was that Aqua didn’t seem uncomfortable or put off by Rodimus’ flirting. She noticed it, and it certainly threw her for a bit of a loop, but she had yet to try and make him stop.

If anything, she actually seemed flattered by it. She was all smiles and was more than happy to keep engaging with him even if it meant more opportunities for her to get flustered.

She seemed... happy.

It didn’t take much longer for the end of their meal to arrive, and Aqua eagerly paid the check, much to Rodimus’ dismay. Once that was all squared away, the five of them stood to leave the diner.

Before they could make it outside, Drift spoke up, getting Terra’s attention.

"Terra? May I speak with you for a moment?" he asked with a small, friendly smile.

"Of course," Terra agreed with a smile of his own, walking over to stand with Drift a few feet away from the others. "What’s up?"

"Well, I was just wondering... Do you think Aqua will text Rodimus?"

Terra shrugged a shoulder. "I have no idea, honestly," he admitted. "I meant what I said about us hanging out again - you guys seem pretty cool. But... I have no idea what she’ll want to do."

"Yeah, that’s fair," Drift said with a nod. "Well... would it be weird for me to get your number?" he asked, digging around in his pocket and pulling out a small device.

"Nah, not at all. That way we can all meet up again without putting too much pressure on Aqua," Terra replied.

"Cool! That’s what I was thinking too," Drift said, typing for a moment before handing the device to Terra. "As much as I want things to work out between them, I can tell she’s a little shy."

Terra took the device, frowning a bit at how different it was from his own phone, but he typed in his information in anyway. "Yeah. She normally isn’t, this is just kind of new to her, I guess," he said, handing the phone back to Drift. "I don’t want to force things, but perhaps we can help nudge them in the right direction..."

Drift beamed at him and pocketed his phone. "Exactly what I was thinking! Thank you," he said, nodding politely before turning to head back to where Aqua, Rodimus, and Ventus were standing. Terra followed him over, and after one final goodbye, the two groups of friends parted ways with a wave.

* * *

The trip back to the Lost Light was rather uneventful, aside from the strange, trance-like state that Rodimus seemed to be caught up in. Once they were back on board, holoforms switched off, Drift turned toward his amica, who had a soft, faraway look in his optics.

"What’s gotten into you, Roddy? Haven’t you ever seen a cute person before?" Drift asked as they headed toward the bridge.

A light blush rose to Rodimus’ cheeks, but he shrugged a shoulder dismissively. "Of _course_ , I have. I look in the mirror every day, you know."

Drift snorted, rolling his eyes. "Gee, thanks. The perfect opportunity to flatter your best friend and you use it to compliment yourself," he replied, though his tone was teasing. "Really, though..."

Rodimus gave a dreamy sigh, and he regarded Drift with a more serious expression. "I dunno, man. It felt like one of those corny holovids. When our eyes met, I felt like my whole world just... flipped upside down. It was the weirdest thing!"

"Are you sure that wasn’t because you got hit in the head really hard with a volleyball?" Drift asked with a grin. He found himself on the receiving end of an unamused glare, so he held his hands up defensively. "I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I’ve just... never seen you like this before."

While Rodimus wasn’t nearly as promiscuous as the rumors suggested, he never seemed to be out searching for his soulmate either. He wasn’t necessarily noncommittal, he just seemed more interested in the occasional bout of interfacing from what Drift had seen. What had occurred today, what was occurring _now_ , wasn’t like that at all, and it was honestly kind of weird - not in a bad way, it was just... different.

"I’ve never felt this way before!" Rodimus said with a wide smile, his spoiler wiggling with delight. "It’s new, and exciting! I sure hope she texts me... I really want to see her again."

Drift’s spark all but melted in his chassis at the sight of his amica, so obviously infatuated and not even remotely ashamed of it. Indeed, it was a bit odd, but Drift would readily admit it was also kind of adorable.

As he listened to Rodimus babble about the way she smiled, Drift could only hope that Aqua felt the same way.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drift is a good boy, but his thirst knows no bounds.

Few things about Rodimus truly got on Drift’s nerves, but the mech’s tendency to fidget when he was anxious was a little irritating. He knew Rodimus couldn’t help it, as he had a lot of restless energy, but the constant movement had a way of making Drift feel nervous as well.

They were resting on Rodimus’ berth, watching a holovid together. Rodimus’ helm rested on Drift’s shoulder, his digits drumming nervously against Drift’s forearm. Although Drift couldn’t see Rodimus’ face, he could tell that his optics kept darting toward where his comm unit lay on the berth - watching, waiting for a message from Aqua.

Drift reached down to grab the tapping fingers, holding Rodimus’ hand tightly.

"Rodimus," he said softly. "Give her time."

"I’m _trying_ ," Rodimus replied, and Drift could practically hear the pout on the other mech’s face. "I am. But maybe I should just accept that she’s not really into me."

Drift nudged Rodimus so they could both sit up before turning to face him. "I think she likes you," he said, reaching up to place a reassuring hand on his amica’s shoulder. "Maybe she’s just... shy, and not sure what to do?"

"Maybe..." Rodimus said softly, though he didn’t or sound look very convinced.

Drift frowned, realizing that this wasn’t really going anywhere - when Rodimus was in a mood like this, words did very little to bring him out of it. He gave Rodimus' shoulder a gentle squeeze, smiling softly at him when their optics met.

"Why don’t we find something fun to do, to get your mind off of it? We have a whole planet to explore, why not go out and get some sun?" Drift suggested. "I hear some of the crew is going to meet at a coffee shop, and I feel like mocha would be right up your alley."

Rodimus rolled his optics, but a small smile crept onto his faceplates. "I don’t really know what mocha is, but that _does_ sound kinda fun..." he admitted.

"Doesn’t it? Certainly more fun than watching _Return of the Energon Eater_ for the fifth time," Drift said with a grin. "Now c’mon! Let’s go!"

He turned the holovid off and slid off of the berth, looking expectantly at Rodimus. His amica eventually followed him, though his remaining reluctance wore off once he was up on his pedes.

They took a few minutes to dress up their holoforms, and by the time they activated the holograms on the surface, Rodimus was back to his usual bouncy self. He chattered excitedly the entire way to the cafe, and before long, they were both tucked into a booth by the window, drinks in hand.

As Rodimus sipped on his beverage, Drift took out his comm unit, sending the name and location of the establishment to Terra. He didn’t know if the humans had plans for the day or not, so he was admittedly a bit surprised by the quick response.

_thanks. aqua’s driving me up the wall_ , it read, and Drift snorted.

He set the device aside, sipping on his tea now that it had cooled off a little bit. Rodimus frowned, and Drift could tell it was a challenge for him to not pick up his own comm unit and check it again.

They fell into a pleasant conversation, and Rodimus was distracted enough that he didn’t see the trio of humans walk by the window. Drift grinned, watching the three of them enter the cafe, two of them totally clueless to Drift and Rodimus’ presence.

He caught Aqua’s eye once the door swung shut behind her, unintentionally trapping her in the place where she stood. Rodimus stopped mid-sentence once he realized Drift was distracted and followed his gaze to look at the door.

Rodimus turned his head back toward Drift, his eyes wide and his cheeks flushed. "I... did you...?"

Drift snorted. "Don’t worry about it," he said, waving the humans over with a big smile.

He watched Terra wrap an arm around Aqua, gently encouraging her to move further into the coffee shop. Poor Aqua looked like she was about to explode with mortification, but she put on a brave face and allowed herself to be steered toward the table.

Drift quickly scooted over and Rodimus followed suit, allowing room for the humans to sit at the table as well.

Terra sat next to Drift while Ven grabbed a chair from a nearby table, all but forcing Aqua to sit next to Rodimus. Drift watched with amusement as Rodimus nervously greeted her, giving her plenty of physical space despite his inability to tear his eyes away from her. The bright, genuine warmth in Rodimus’ expression was enough to melt anyone’s heart, and Drift couldn’t help the soft smile on his own face as he watched the two of them interact.

It was really quite rare to see an outside influence bring out this side of his amica, and Drift relished in every moment of it. Sure, Rodimus was friendly, but he did not trust easily. Drift was one of the select few who got to see past the bold, brash walls of Rodimus’ personality, and he knew it took a lot for Rodimus to allow himself to be so vulnerable.

The more he thought about it, the more Drift realized that Aqua being a complete stranger to Rodimus was probably working in her favor. For once Rodimus’ past, his failures, his insecurities, were his to share at his own pace. He didn’t have to worry about her opinion of his character being tainted by the rumor mills of the Lost Light, or of Cybertron in general.

Their interactions only grew more and more adorable by the second, much to Drift's delight. Aqua took a moment to blatantly check Rodimus out, making him blush. Rodimus, as well as anyone else who happened to be looking their way, easily saw how her eyes wandered over him, and Aqua blushed just as brightly when she was caught staring. Drift snorted at the sight, feeling a gentle nudge against his shoulder. He looked up to see Terra giving him a lopsided smile, nodding his head toward Aqua and Rodimus.

Drift’s heart fluttered in his chest at the sight, which was weird. He was certain that he’d seen Terra smile before, why did this particular one make him feel almost... lightheaded?

He shoved away the odd reaction to grin back at Terra, holding out a small thumbs up to silently acknowledge their teamwork as a job well done. Terra chuckled, turning his attention back to the table. Drift followed suit, turning his focus to Rodimus, who was pointing out their fellow crewmates across the coffee shop.

Socializing wasn’t Drift’s specialty, not by a long shot, but he was proud to say he was doing fairly well at keeping up with the flow of the conversation. And, even after Terra and Ven had left the table to buy some breakfast, keeping Rodimus and Aqua company wasn’t all that bad. He didn’t feel like a third wheel at all, and Aqua was friendly and eager to talk, especially if there wasn’t as much of a chance for her to become embarrassed.

Though, it was quite cute how easily she did get flustered. All Rodimus had to do was smile at her and she was practically down for the count.

Which... considering how Drift’s heart sped up when Terra smiled at him, he supposed he had no room to talk. He pushed the thought away for now, leaving it to ponder over at another time.

Or, at least, he _tried_ to push it off for another time; it seemed that fate had other plans for him.

Aqua turned her attention to her friends around the same time Drift did, spotting the two of them as they struggled to carry an impressive amount of food - could three humans truly eat that much?

Ven was holding a tray with a few drinks, his tongue poking out as he focused intently on not spilling anything, while Terra somehow balanced all of the food at once. At first, Drift watched the spectacle with amusement, and he wondered why they didn’t just make two trips or ask for help.

Though... his amusement quickly morphed into intrigue when his eyes settled on Terra’s sculpted forearms, cradling the various plates and trays against his chest to prevent any of the items from falling.

Drift found his gaze wandering up the muscular arms, and he decided that Terra was definitely struggling with balancing what he was carrying rather than the weight of it. In fact, with arms like those, Drift was pretty sure that Terra could pick up just about _anything_ with ease - including, but not limited to, Drift’s holoform.

Thank goodness Drift was sitting down, as he was pretty sure his knees turned to goo with the direction his imagination was going.

He admittedly startled a bit when Aqua hopped out of her seat, hurrying over to help her friends. She quickly plucked a few items out of Terra’s grasp, the extra set of hands allowing the food to reach the table much more quickly. They placed the food and drinks down, and Drift felt his mouth go dry when Terra casually stretched one arm behind his head before settling next to him in the booth once again.

Drift swallowed hard, trying his best to turn his focus to Ven, who was explaining that the extra food was purchased on behalf of Drift and Rodimus, in case they were hungry as well.

He hadn’t expected such a kind gesture, and neither did Rodimus if his raised brows were anything to go by. Though, considering Aqua’s eagerness to pay for their meal yesterday, Drift supposed that they should have seen it coming.

He gave Rodimus a nod and a small smile, letting him know that he would take care of paying the trio back - he had plenty of cash in his pocket to do just that.

The group easily fell into a comfortable conversation again, though this time Drift was content with observing rather than participating. More often than not, he found himself trying to not think too much about Terra, which was a bit of a challenge considering they were sitting right next to each other. 

Luckily, Aqua and Rodimus provided a pretty good distraction. He was happy to note that they were still getting along pretty well - all in all, things seemed to be going well for them, and Drift was glad.

Once everyone was finished eating, it was time to let Aqua and Rodimus have a little privacy - well, as much privacy as two people could have in a crowded coffee shop. He offered his amica a small smile before reaching over to pat Terra’s arm, doing his best to keep from stroking the firm muscles there.

_Primus, get a hold of yourself_ , Drift scolded himself with a touch of embarrassment. Sure, Terra was kind, handsome, and built like a tank - three things Drift was absolutely attracted to - but they’d just met yesterday!

That was moving a little too quick, even for Drift. For Rodimus and Aqua, it was a little different, because...

Drift racked his brain for some sort of excuse, but the search turned up empty.

Perhaps it _was_ a little fast for everyone involved, but Drift decided that it didn’t have to be such a big deal. It wouldn’t hurt to just to get to know Terra better. They probably weren’t soulmates or anything, but Drift shouldn't be afraid to take a chance and see if Terra was interested in him in some type of way.

And, if it was a one-way thing, Drift wouldn’t mind just being friends. It was hardly the end of the world! Surely they had _something_ in common that they could bond over?

His decision was made just as they reached the table where Whirl, Skids, and Swerve were seated. Drift allowed himself a moment to gather his thoughts before he introduced everyone to each other with a small smile.

Unsurprisingly, Whirl departed the table with a rushed "gotta blast", while Swerve and Skids eagerly greeted Ven, quickly drawing a smile out of him. Swerve was quite the chatterbox, easily taking over the conversation, but Ven didn’t seem to mind all that much as he tucked himself into the chair that Whirl had vacated.

Terra, on the other hand, stayed pretty quiet, merely standing by to keep an eye on each of his friends as they socialized. His expression was thoughtful and his arms were crossed over his chest, and after a few minutes, he was subtly shifting his weight from foot to foot. 

Drift frowned. He knew how Terra felt, as he was also a bit awkward, especially around new people. Perhaps this would be the perfect opportunity for them both to get to know each other a little better?

"Hey," he said, nudging Terra's shoulder gently. He was glad to see Terra turn toward him with a polite smile, seeming happy for the distraction. 

"So, about the whole... buying us food thing," he continued, reaching into his pocket to pull out a wad of the local currency, enough to pay for the meal and then some.

Terra frowned, his eyes widening when he saw what Drift was holding. "Ah, no, you don’t have to do that, really," he said, holding a hand up.

"You sure? I’ve got plenty of cash."

"Nah, it’s okay," Terra insisted with a shake of his head. "It wasn’t all that expensive, really."

Drift quirked a brow at him, placing the money back into his pocket... for now.

"Okay then. Next time, Roddy and I are gonna pay for something, whether you guys want us to or not."

"Well, alright, if you insist." Terra rolled his eyes, though the curl to his lips suggested that he wasn’t all that upset.

"I _do_. It’s only polite," he said, shooting Terra a playfully stern look.

Terra chuckled and gave Drift that bright grin again, and Drift found himself smiling back. He also found that his stomach was twisting like a pretzel, but he tried not to think about that too much.

"Anyway," Drift continued, swallowing and forcing himself to relax, "you and your friends have any other plans for the day?"

"Nah, not really," Terra said, shrugging one massive shoulder. "We’ve been kind of winging it each day. We hadn’t even left the hotel yet because Aqua couldn’t make up her mind about texting Rodimus."

Drift chuckled quietly, giving a small nod. "Yeah, Roddy was having just as hard of a time waiting for her text. I practically had to drag him outside," he said with a snort, glancing over toward the table where the two sat.

Rodimus gently wrapped an arm around Aqua’s shoulders to pull her closer to him. Aqua said something that sent a bright flush up Rodimus’ cheeks, and Drift felt his gaze soften at the exchange. "I’m glad this worked out, though. It’s kind of cute how much he’s wrapped around her finger already," he continued.

He turned his gaze back toward Terra, who was observing Rodimus and Aqua with small smile of his own. "Yeah, I can’t remember any other time I’ve seen Aqua act like this. She’s usually the most collected out of the three of us," he said before facing Drift again, his grin widening when their eyes met. "There’s a reason she made the rank of master before Ven and me."

He nodded slowly, eyes darting away for a brief moment as he mulled over Terra’s words. "Master? Master of what?" he asked, glancing at Terra with a tilt of his head before remembering his manners. "Erm, if I may ask, that is..."

"Uhhh..." Terra's smile fell as he thought of how to answer Drift’s question. "We’re... warriors? I guess? Guardians against darkness," he said with a wince, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, I’ve never really had to explain it before. Master Eraqus made it sound a lot less ridiculous."

Drift considered his answer for a moment, realizing where all those big muscles must have come from. He knew that they weren’t coded like his holoform’s physique was, but now it was quite clear just how Terra had earned them - he was fucking _strong_.

He fought off a swoon as best as he could, but there was no way he could hide the way his face lit up with genuine interest.

"Oh, no, that’s not ridiculous at all!" Drift said, reaching over to pat Terra on the shoulder encouragingly - and no, he did not let his touch linger. "It’s been a while since I’ve met a fellow warrior!"

Terra’s own expression brightened, and he regarded Drift with an impressed look that made his heart soar. "Ah, I see. That explains a lot," he said, nodding his head. "We were taught to use a... sword, as well as magic, though I’m not the best with that," he admitted. "Aqua’s definitely the magic master, while I usually focus on raw strength. What sort of weapon do you use?"

Raw strength? Yeah, Drift could believe that - Terra could probably snap Drift’s holoform in half like a twig, and Drift found that he wouldn’t mind that one bit. He wondered if it would be too forward to ask him to spar - not _just_ as an excuse to get up close and personal with Terra, but also because Drift couldn’t resist a good tussle. Terra was much bigger than Drift’s holoform, so it could be an interesting challenge!

"Ah, I’m a swordsman as well. Without it, though, I’m quick and pretty good with my hands," Drift said, giving Terra a cheeky grin.

Terra chuckled. "We should spar sometime! I’d love to see your technique," he said, as though he had read Drift’s mind.

Drift’s cheeks were not heating up under Terra’s gaze, his heart was not hammering in his ears, and he was certainly not distracted by that handsome smile --

Okay, maybe he was a _little_ distracted, his words getting hung up in his throat.

Terra blushed a little, giving Drift an apologetic look. "Well, if you want to. It’s probably not the most polite to just... ask that."

Drift’s own grin grew at Terra’s flushed cheeks, his heart practically doing laps in his chest. Just when he thought the guy couldn’t get any more attractive! 

"No, I’d love to!" Drift finally agreed, perhaps with a little too much enthusiasm. "I think it would be _very_ enlightening."

Before he could further the conversation any more, a loud commotion sounded at a table next to him. He turned to see Whirl pinning down a random customer, shouting something about his eyepatch, and Drift wondered how he had gotten so distracted to let something like this happen.

Swerve and Skids were up in an instant, rushing over to Whirl. Drift sighed, turning toward Terra, who took in the scene with wide eyes.

"Sorry Terra, but you and your friends should probably leave before this gets worse," he said with a small frown.

Terra nodded. "Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Good luck!" he replied, quickly turning so he could scan the room, likely looking for his friends.

Before Drift went to deal with Whirl, he retrieved the wad of cash he had offered Terra earlier, stuffing it carefully into Terra’s back pocket. He may or may not have allowed himself an eyeful of Terra’s backside as he did so, but who could say for sure?

Luckily, both of his actions seemed to have gone unnoticed, and Drift shook the blush from his cheeks as he turned his attention to the predicament at hand.

* * *

Terra quickly spotted Aqua, who was following closely behind Rodimus, holding a hand over her chest and looking more than a little flustered. Ven clambered out of his chair as Aqua approached, and the three of them rushed out of the coffee shop, more than happy to stay out of trouble. They automatically headed back toward their hotel, as they’d all had enough excitement for the morning.

It didn’t take them long to reach their destination, and Terra fished around in his pocket to retrieve the key card for their room. Alongside the card, he felt something odd that he didn’t recognize.

Terra pulled out the item, identifying it immediately: it was the money that Drift had tried to offer him earlier, rolled up and held together with one of his bright red hair ties.

"That was fun! We should meet up with them again sometime," Ven said excitedly, bringing Terra back to the present and reminding him that he had yet to unlock the door.

Once they were inside the room, Terra frowned at the cash in his hand again, realizing there was easily enough there to pay for _several_ meals. He would have to return this to Drift as soon as possible, so he found that he couldn’t argue with Ventus - they’d be meeting up again, for sure.

Aside from that, though? Drift was a pretty nice guy, and Terra decided that he wouldn’t mind hanging out with him again. He was also admittedly curious about Drift’s fighting techniques, considering his size and stature, and found the idea of a friendly spar to be quite appealing.

His mind wandered a bit, providing him with the image of Drift drenched in sweat, smirking up with him while countering a blow - and why the heck _that_ made Terra’s heart skip a beat, he had no clue.

"Yeah," Terra said, finally acknowledging Ven’s comment. "Don’t worry. We’ll definitely be seeing them again."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terra, buddy... I love you, but wow. Warning for brief mentions of being very nauseous, but nobody actually gets sick!

The weather was beautiful today: warm, but not too warm, with a nice breeze and a sunny, cloudless sky. Aqua really had chosen the perfect day to spend outside, and Terra was more than happy to accompany her on the walk to the fairgrounds.

"Aqua, stop fidgeting," Terra reprimanded gently when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye again. He turned to see Aqua hastily let go of the overall strap she had been readjusting, stuffing her hands in her pockets instead.

She remained quiet as they approached the line to the ticket booth, her lips twisted in a thoughtful frown. While she didn’t seem nervous exactly, it was clear that she was at least a little unsure of what was to come.

"You look really nice. I’m sure you two will have a great time," he reassured her as they waited.

Aqua nodded, taking a deep breath. "Thank you," she said, giving Terra a small smile. "And... thank you for coming along with me. Are you sure you’ll be okay here by yourself?"

Terra snorted. "Yeah, I’ll be fine. A fair is a lot more interesting than a petting zoo," he said.

That’s where Ventus had decided to go with some of Rodimus’ crew, and he was kind enough to invite Terra along so he wouldn’t be stuck by himself while Aqua was on her date. But, being surrounded by small animals begging for food wasn’t exactly how he’d wanted to spend the day, so he politely declined, opting to hang around the fair alone instead.

His eyes darted around as they neared the ticket booth, and he spotted Rodimus’ vibrant red hair almost instantly. Terra was a bit surprised to see Drift standing next to him, though he supposed he shouldn’t have been - wherever Rodimus was, Drift never seemed to be too far behind.

Even more surprising was the way that Terra’s stomach flip-flopped at the sight of him. He quietly wondered if Drift would be willing to keep him company while their friends were on their date. The idea of hanging out with him sounded preferable to walking around alone, even if they had only just met a few days ago.

"I’m sure I can find something to keep myself occupied while you’re on your date," he found himself saying as he paid for his ticket.

Once Aqua purchased her own ticket, they headed over to where Drift and Rodimus were standing. As she and Rodimus greeted each other, Terra turned toward Drift.

"Hey," he said, raising his hand in a half-attempted wave.

"Hey. Fancy seeing you here," Drift said with a quirked brow. "Are you going to the fair?"

Terra nodded, showing Drift his ticket. "Yeah, you?"

Drift showed his own ticket, giving a small shrug. "I wasn’t going to, but I might as well since I bought a ticket... You mind if I tag along with you?" he asked with a warm, wide grin.

Such a bright smile was likely meant to be persuasive, though Terra hardly needed any convincing. His mind helpfully pointed out the way Drift’s blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight, taking on an almost green hue.

Terra’s heart stuttered a bit as he looked down at Drift, which was puzzling. He wasn’t sure what the deal was, his heart almost acting up since yesterday at the coffee shop, but now didn’t seem like the right time to dwell on it. It wasn’t necessarily _bad_ , or painful, just... odd.

Taking a moment to collect himself, he watched Aqua and Rodimus leave before turning to nod at Drift. "Yeah, sure. I could use the company," he said with a small smile of his own, fighting down the excitement that suddenly bubbled up in his chest. He gestured in front of him to allow Drift to enter the fairgrounds first. "After you."

"Why, thank you," Drift said, tilting his head politely before heading into the park.

Terra followed, not realizing he was staring at Drift’s rear end until Drift stopped walking. He coughed into his hand, fighting down the heat rising to his cheeks - why his eyes wandered _there_ of all places, he didn’t know...

"So," Drift said, seemingly unaware of Terra’s predicament, "where would you like to go first?"

They each took a moment to scan the area around them, noting the various food stands and attractions. No matter where Terra looked it was pretty crowded, so he couldn’t exactly decide by which area had the least amount of people. The line of game stalls caught Terra’s eye, and he pointed vaguely in their direction. "How about we check those out? Maybe we can win something," he said.

Drift eyed the game stalls, ultimately nodding in agreement. "Yeah, that sounds like fun! Let’s see what they have."

They headed toward the games, taking a gander at the many options that were available. Once they both had a chance to take it all in, Drift pointed toward the ring toss booth.

"Hey," he said, nudging Terra with his elbow and peering up at him, "you think we can boot that jerk out of the way?"

Terra looked to see a single person there, who appeared to be hogging the game if the large, bored-looking crowd around the booth was anything to go by. The player seemed to be trying desperately to win a prize for the person standing next to them, who looked uninterested at best.

"Yeah," Terra agreed with a smirk. "We’ll kick ‘em out easily."

Drift’s own grin widened at that, and they hurried over to get a closer look. It didn’t take too long for them to reach the booth, and they each made their way through the crowd to stand next to the person who was playing. Terra took a moment to check the board, looking for any signs that the person running the booth may have rigged the game. Ultimately he found nothing, so he turned to Drift with a nod.

"Shouldn’t be too hard," Terra mused. If his statement was purposefully loud enough for the player to hear, he never let it on, ignoring the insulted gasp he heard. "Would you like to go first or should I?"

With a grin, Drift leaned comfortably against the side of the booth, nodding toward Terra. "You’re more than welcome to go first. I wouldn’t mind watching you throw a ring or two," he said with a sly smile.

Terra didn’t have time to dwell on Drift’s words or the way his heart fluttered, as Drift kept talking, turning to give the player a pointed look. "Maybe you can even win a stuffed animal for this person’s date since they haven’t gotten anything yet." The player stomped their foot, but Drift wasn’t bothered in the slightest, waving a hand at them dismissively. "Save it. You’ve probably been here for twenty minutes. About time you let someone else play, hm?"

With an annoyed huff, they stepped away, making room for Terra. "Fine. But if you lose, it’s my turn again! I was here first!"

Drift made a face but didn’t say anything further, so Terra took that as his opportunity to step forward. He paid the person behind the booth and analyzed the rings he was given, weighing them in his hands in an attempt to determine how hard he would need to throw them to land them on the bottles.

Terra shot Drift a brief, bold grin before tossing the rings. Unsurprisingly, they each landed on one of the bottles, and Terra let out a huff of satisfaction.

"Nice one!" Drift cheered, hopping over to stand next to Terra, clapping him on the shoulder excitedly.

Terra’s grin widened as he turned back to the person running the game. "How many points are needed for the big prize?" he asked, gesturing toward the giant stuffed... well. Terra wasn’t sure _what_ kind of creature it was supposed to be. It was colorful and had a bill, but it didn’t look like any duck he’d ever seen.

"You’d have to get four more perfect scores," came the lazy response.

With a nod, Terra handed over enough munny to play four more times. As he received the rings for the next attempt, Drift nudged his shoulder, giving him an encouraging smile. He then stood on his tiptoes, leaning over to speak quietly in Terra's ear.

"You got this, big guy. Show that asshole who’s boss," he said, his voice a low murmur - though, judging from the affronted sound behind them, Drift’s voice wasn’t as quiet as it was intended.

Terra barely fought down the shiver that ran through him as he threw Drift another grin, though it was a little shakier than he would have liked. "Thanks, Drift. Should be easy enough, I think."

His brow furrowed as he concentrated again, tossing the rings and landing another perfect score. Terra allowed himself a victorious smile and a relieved sigh with each win, trying not to get too flashy or cocky about it. While he enjoyed competing, he never really was one for showboating - not like Aqua and Ven, at least.

And yet, the crowd around the booth started to get riled up, cheering him along. He paid them little mind, not even acknowledging Drift’s excitement until the last of the rings landed on its respective bottle.

"A’ight, here ya go," the person behind the booth said, handing over the large, odd-looking stuffed animal.

Drift clapped him on the shoulder again, giving him a delighted grin as they stepped away from the booth. "Nice job, man. I knew you could do it," he said happily.

Terra looked around, noting that the person who had been hogging the booth earlier was long gone by now. He and Drift exchanged a shrug, and he looked down at the toy he was holding.

"I don’t really know what to do with this," he said, holding it out with as little awkwardness as he could muster. "Do you want it?"

Drift beamed up at him, a light pink flush rushing to his cheeks. "Sure!" he said, accepting the toy and hugging it close to his chest. "Thanks, Terra."

"No problem," he said with a smile of his own, giving Drift a pat on the shoulder. "What would you like to do next?"

"Hmmm..." Drift tapped his chin, looking around the area. "I dunno. I guess we could go on a roller coaster or something if you want."

Terra sucked in a surprised breath at that, his posture stiffening with discomfort at the suggestion. Roller coasters were... not his favorite.

"I, uhh, actually --" he began, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

Drift cut him off, pointing over one of his shoulders with wide eyes. "Wait, dude, check it out! The lovebirds are right there!" he said excitedly.

Terra spun around, happy for the new direction that the conversation had taken. "Ah, of course," he said, grinning at the sight of their friends as they stumbled toward a nearby park bench. "Aqua took him on the roller coaster first. She loves ‘em."

He glanced around, taking in the other various rides, his smile widening when his eyes landed on the teacups. "Hey," he said, patting Drift’s shoulder before pointing to the ride. "I bet you that’s where they go next. It’s another favorite of hers."

"Oh yeah?" Drift asked with a cocked brow. He turned toward Aqua and Rodimus for a long moment, and Terra could practically hear the gears turning in his head as he cooked up a plan.

"Hmmm... If that’s true, then I bet we can beat them to it! Hell, we could sit _right next_ to them and they probably wouldn’t even notice. Look how occupied they are with each other," he said, gesturing toward the two of them with a fond smile.

Sure enough, only a few feet away was a child crying loudly to their caretaker, and neither Rodimus nor Aqua seemed to even notice. They were so engrossed in their conversation, completely oblivious to the world around them as they looked over the little paper map.

Before Terra could agree with the idea, Drift was cramming the stuffed animal under one arm and reaching out to grab Terra’s hand. "C’mon! Let’s go!" Drift shouted excitedly, tugging Terra toward the teacups.

Terra stumbled a bit as his feet caught up with the new plan, though he easily kept up with Drift’s hurried pace once he realized what was happening. The teacups weren’t his favorite ride, but he’d gladly put up with them to check in on Aqua. Rodimus seemed like a nice enough guy, and Terra liked and trusted Drift so far, but after all they’d been through...

Aqua deserved to be happy.

He didn’t realize he was still holding Drift’s hand until they were well across the fairgrounds, seated comfortably in one of the teacups. A blush rose to his cheeks and he muttered an apology to Drift, releasing his hand to grab hold of the wheel between them instead. His eyes darted around, searching for any sign of their friends. It wasn’t until Drift stared intently over Terra’s shoulder that he realized the pair was behind him.

The ride started up and Terra grinned. He yanked on the wheel to quickly spin the cup around until Rodimus and Aqua were in his line of sight, the sudden movement sending Drift flying into the seat of the ride.

"Huh, you were right. They haven’t even noticed us," Terra said with a chuckle.

Drift sat up from where he had been knocked over, glaring up at Terra. "Not cool, man!" Drift replied, fighting down a grin and tugging the wheel until he could see their friends again.

Terra predicted this and spun the cup harshly once more. It wasn’t long before they were both yanking on the wheel, neither one of them able to see what was going on with Rodimus or Aqua with how fast the cup was turning. At some point they had both started yelling, the determination blazing in Drift’s eyes likely matching Terra’s own.

In all honesty, Terra had not meant for things to get so out of hand. But darn his competitiveness, now they were spinning way too fast and he had no clue how they could stop. He was certain that if any heartless were to appear, the speed of the teacup would be more than enough to destroy them.

Below them, the joint connecting the cup to the base of the ride started to groan in protest under the immense amount of strain that was being put on it. Terra wasn’t all that surprised when the joint eventually gave way, sending the teacup sailing off of the base of the ride and onto the pavement. Screams of random bystanders filled the air, and Terra was certain that the stuffed animal he had won was now long gone, flung halfway across the park.

Luckily, they didn’t hit anyone, nor did their cup tip over. Their slide against the pavement was enough to get the cup to finally slow down, and by god, Terra had never felt so nauseous in his entire life. It took him a long moment to recover and fight down the urge to vomit, and by that point two security guards had already arrived.

"Not again," one of them grumbled, quickly pulling Terra out of the cup. "Y’know, they tell you not to do that at the beginning of the ride for a reason."

"Sorry," Terra halfheartedly apologized, his eyes darting over to where Drift sat, noting that he looked rather pale. "You alright, Drift?"

"Uhhh..." Drift groaned, his eyes blearily focusing on Terra before he shook his head. "Don’t... feel so good..." He didn’t have time to elaborate before he was plucked out of the seat by the other security guard.

"Yeah, I bet you boys are really regretting it now, aren’t you?" the guard said. With the help from the other guard, and they all but dragged Drift and Terra toward the front of the fair. Luckily, most of Terra’s balance returned by the time they made it back to the entrance. When he glanced over at Drift, he was happy to see he looked a little better too, though the way he settled heavily onto the ground made it clear he was still recovering. 

Terra shot Drift an apologetic look, but it was waved away. "Don’t worry, Terra-bear, I got this. Lemme just make a call real quick," Drift slurred, reaching into his pocket to retrieve his phone.

Terra’s nose crinkled at the odd nickname, though he didn’t have too much time to parse over it as Drift began to speak again.

"Uhh, Magnus? Listen, I kind of ran into some trouble on the surface. No, I’m okay, I just need some help real quick," he said, scratching the back of his head. "I kind of broke a ride at the fair...?"

Terra flinched along with Drift as the voice on the other end of the line became exceedingly louder, and he watched as Drift opened and closed his mouth a few times before hanging up. He didn’t know who this "Magnus" was, but they seemed intimidating to say the least.

With a sigh, Terra dragged out his own phone, sending Ven a quick text. Looks like he would be spending the day at the petting zoo after all. The two of them would just have to come back and pick up Aqua after the date was over, which wasn’t a huge deal considering that the petting zoo was just down the street.

He turned to Drift with the intention to invite him along, just in time to see a young woman walking forward, her entire stance stiff and radiating annoyance.

Terra gulped, suddenly reminded of when he was younger and had angered Master Eraqus by breaking a priceless heirloom.

Drift opened his mouth to speak to her, but she held up a hand. "No, no. You’ve done quite enough, Drift. Thank you."

"But --"

"You _will_ be paying me back for this, in some way, shape, or form, do you hear me?" she snapped, pulling out her checkbook and facing the security guards. "Good afternoon. To whom should this check be made out to? And..." she glanced between Drift and Terra, "for how much?"

Drift sighed, glancing up at Terra while the woman worked out the details with the security guards. He cracked a smile, waving a hand dismissively.

"Don’t worry Terra, you’re not in trouble. Ol’ Mags here wouldn’t hurt a fly!" he said, though the way his smile wobbled suggested that he was probably lying.

So... this was Magnus, then?

Her voice seemed quite different from the one on the phone, though it could have been a different person with the same name. And she had arrived rather quickly, but perhaps Rodimus’ ship had some sort of teleportation device.

Terra shrugged, deciding in the end that it didn’t really matter.

"Anyway," Drift said, picking a stick off of the ground to poke around in the dirt, "I hope Roddy ‘n’ Aqua enjoy the rest of their date. Man. He’s probably never gonna let me live this down when he finds out..."

"Date?" Magnus asked, pausing what she was writing to raise a single sharp brow at Drift.

Drift nodded. "Yeah, he’s uhh... on a date."

Magnus’ face contorted into something of extreme discomfort before she shook her head, turning her attention back to what she was doing. Once the check was in the hands of the security guards, she sent one final pointed look toward Terra and Drift, then turned on her heel to head back the way she came.

The security guards shook their heads, walking back toward the fairgrounds - though, their leisurely pace turned into a sprint when one of their walkie-talkies blared to life, another incident seemingly demanding their attention. With their departure, Drift and Terra were left to find out what they were going to do next.

"Sorry for getting us into this mess," Terra said with an apologetic smile. "I hope you don’t get in too much trouble --"

"Don't worry about that. Just a couple of extra cleaning shifts will be enough to appease Magnus," Drift said before fixing Terra with a stern look. "And it was my fault too, you know - we both got a little... overeager."

"Alright, that's fair," Terra agreed with a laugh, offering Drift a hand to help him up. "Do you wanna hang out with me and Ven at the petting zoo? I’ll pay!"

Drift nodded, taking the hand gratefully and standing up with a slight wobble to his steps. "Sure," he said, stumbling a bit.

Terra reached out on instinct, grabbing Drift before he ended up falling over. Drift shot him an appreciative smile, leaning heavily into the touch. "Thank you. My leg went numb," he said as he tucked himself against Terra’s side. 

With a small smile, Terra wrapped an arm around Drift’s shoulders to lead them down the sidewalk and toward the petting zoo. He didn’t mind how heavily Drift leaned against him, as it wasn't exactly _unpleasant_. Terra was used to carrying much heavier things after all, so it was hardly a bother to help until he was steadier on his feet. 

"Anyway," Drift said a few minutes later, "I wouldn’t mind tagging along, but you are not paying this time!"

"I mean, you just paid for a broken fair ride, but alright," Terra relented as they ambled down the sidewalk. "Lemme at least give you your money back from yesterday. I’m not keeping all of that."

He still didn’t know _how_ Drift had managed to sneak that into his pocket without being noticed, but things had gotten a little chaotic toward the end of their visit. And, Terra knew he wasn’t always the most observant, though he'd certainly be keeping a closer eye on Drift from now on.

Drift snorted, patting Terra on the back before stepping away to stand on his own again, looking much more sure of his steps now. "Of course. I should’ve known you’d want to give it back..." 

"Well, yeah. That was a little too generous, Drift," Terra said, retrieving and handing over the roll of cash. "Still, I appreciate the gesture."

"Says the guy who pays for everything! But one day I'll pay you back," Drift said with a quiet laugh, his fingers brushing lightly against Terra's as he took the money. 

It was a little strange how that barely-there touch made the hairs on Terra's arm stand on end, especially considering how Drift was plastered to his side just a moment ago. He supposed it could be because it was reminiscent of the way Drift had grasped his hand earlier, but he didn't have long to dwell on it, as his phone chimed in his pocket. 

Terra halted his steps, pulling the device out and seeing that he'd gotten a text from Aqua, bearing unfortunate news.

"Huh," he said, turning to Drift. "The date got cut off. Apparently, some of your crewmates were caught fooling around at the love tunnel."

Drift frowned and he went quiet, deep in thought for a long moment. "Is she _sure_ it was someone from the crew? I can’t imagine who it could be...?"

Before either of them could ponder it further, a familiar figure zipped past them, headed straight for the fair again - none other than Magnus, who looked absolutely _livid_. Terra briefly felt bad for whoever was on the receiving end of such anger, but it was short-lived when Drift suddenly burst into giggles.

He found himself smiling as he watched Drift struggle to remain upright, almost overcome with his own laughter.

"Oh, man," Drift said once his amusement died down some, wiping away tears that had begun to form from laughing so hard. "I don’t know what happened exactly, but I’m pretty sure you and I are off the hook for today."

* * *

By the time Drift and Terra made it back to the fair, Aqua was waiting by the entrance for them. She offered a wave when she spotted them, but Drift could tell she wasn’t in the best mood, even from this far away.

"Hey, Aqua. Sorry to hear things got interrupted again," he said once he and Terra were within earshot.

Aqua shook her head. "It’s alright. I still had a nice time, and we’re gonna try to meet up again tomorrow," she said with a small smile, though it fell rather quickly. "I feel a lot worse for your crewmates. Rodimus was... not happy with them."

She sighed softly, turning toward Terra. "To the petting zoo, then?" she asked.

"Sure," he agreed. With a gentle touch to her shoulder, he turned to lead her away. "Maybe afterward, the three of us can go get some ice cream...?"

Aqua visibly perked up at the offer, and she beamed up at her friend. "I’d love to!" she chirped.

"Great! I’m sure Ven will be excited too," Terra said with a small laugh. Before they were too far off, he turned, glancing over his shoulder toward Drift again.

"See ya later, Drift," he said, offering a friendly smile and a wave.

Drift’s heart soared in his chest whenever Terra smiled at him, and this time was no different. With a wobbly grin of his own, he waved back. "Bye! Have fun!" he called.

With a happy sigh, Drift watched as they headed in the opposite direction, talking quietly to each other. He did feel bad that Rodimus and Aqua’s date was interrupted again, but... Aqua said that she still had a nice time, at least.

Despite the fact that he and Terra’s trip to the fair had also ended rather abruptly, Drift was honestly pretty happy with how the afternoon had gone. If he ignored the fact that he’d helped break the teacup ride, had nearly gotten sick all over the place, and was chewed out by Magnus right in front of Terra, it wasn’t half bad. He’d had a lot of fun while hanging out with Terra, and had gotten a chance to hold Terra’s hand and stand very, _very_ close to him!

Before Drift could get too caught up in recalling just how carefully Terra had held him while he regained his balance, he heard an annoyed huff behind him, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"I cannot believe those two," Rodimus growled, stomping out of the fair with a deep frown. He was walking behind Magnus, who was all but dragging Cyclonus and Tailgate down the sidewalk. "Do you know what they were doing, Drift? In _public_?"

Drift crinkled his nose as he watched the couple's retreating backs, recalling the crude summary of Aqua’s text message. "I... know enough," he said as they trailed behind their crewmates. "I don’t care about that, though. I wanna hear all about your date with Aqua!"

Rodimus heaved a sigh, but he nodded. "Well... other than the fact that it totally crashed and burned at the end, it _was_ a really nice date," he admitted, a small smile finally rising to his face.

Drift nodded, giving his amica an encouraging smile. As Rodimus recounted the events of his date, his frustration started to melt away, and his smile grew wider and warmer with every detail.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are really gonna, ahem, heat up on the beach today!

It wasn’t quite time for he and his friends to head to the beach, but Terra had been ready to leave for a few minutes now. He walked out of the bathroom, placing the bottle of sunblock he'd been using on top of his suitcase and glancing around the room.

Ventus was perched on the back of the couch, hands folded in his lap and sitting suspiciously still as he watched Aqua dig through her bag. He appeared to be ready to leave, which was good.

Aqua, on the other hand, huffed with frustration as she tore through her beach bag, desperately searching for something. With a frown, she turned it over, dumping all of the contents onto her bed to pick through each item one by one.

Ventus then hopped off of the couch, his hands clasped behind his back as he approached Aqua. She paid him no mind until he was right at her side, smirking at her.

"Looking for this?" he teased, dangling the seashell necklace she’d made in front of her face.

Aqua’s worried expression melted into relief, which quickly morphed into annoyance as she took the item from him. "Yes, thank you," she said tersely. She shot him a glare before safely tucking the necklace into her bag along with her other belongings, though it was a lot less intimidating with how brightly she was blushing.

"You two are wearing sunscreen, right?" Aqua asked with a glance between Terra and Ventus, who were each donning only a pair of swim trunks.

"Yeah, of course! This isn’t our first day on the beach, y’know!" Ven replied, rolling his eyes.

Terra walked over to grab his towel, ruffling Ventus’ hair as he passed by. "We’re fine, Aqua. Eager to spend some time on the beach with our new friends," he reassured her. 

He was pretty excited anyway, though he wasn’t entirely sure if Drift was tagging along today.

Unlike Aqua and Rodimus who had been making plans to meet up, Terra only really saw Drift by mere chance. While it seemed to be working out so far, Terra supposed he should just _ask_ Drift if he’d be coming by - it would be a lot easier than quietly hoping that he’d happen to show up, right?

As they headed toward the beach, Terra typed out a text to send to Drift. It took a few tries to figure out what exactly to say, but he eventually settled on something that seemed appropriately friendly and lighthearted.

_hey. you up for a quick spar today?_

He didn’t have much time to second guess himself or worry if it was too straightforward, as he received a reply within moments.

_fuck yeah bro, thought you’d never ask!_

* * *

By the time Drift and Rodimus showed up, Terra and Ventus were already in the middle of a spar. Not that Drift was complaining, of course - he needed a moment to pick his jaw up off of the ground anyway.

It made plenty of sense that Terra would be hanging out on the beach without a shirt on. That was a totally normal thing for humans to do when it was hot outside, so it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise. And yet, here Drift was, utterly breathless at the sight before him.

Terra’s ridiculously well-fitted shirts left little to the imagination as it was, but actually _seeing_ that chiseled torso glinting in the sunlight was almost more than Drift could handle. He silently willed away the bright blush on his cheeks, trying his best to slow his racing heart and actually pay attention to what was happening.

It took a few tries, but his brain actually began to cooperate when Terra was thrown off-balance, all but faceplanting into the sand. He wasn’t down for long, rolling over and hopping back onto his feet in an instant. He shot a glare at Ven before they started up again, though Drift could see from where he was standing that it was all in good fun.

It was fascinating to watch the two of them fight. Like Drift, Ventus was quick on his feet, though he relied more heavily on dodging and darting around than trying to land blows. Drift figured that this was partially due to their familiarity with fighting each other and partially because Ven wanted to show off just how fast he was.

Terra, on the other hand, fought similarly to someone of Megatron or Magnus’ size. Save for the occasional burst of speed, he wasn’t nearly as fast as Ven, instead relying on bold, sure strength and a pretty solid defense. He was also clearly holding back blows, trying to snag Ven or knock him over rather than strike out. 

Drift quietly hoped that Terra wouldn’t go nearly as easy on him, as it had been a while since he’d had the chance to really spar for fun. And, despite having a few millennia of experience under his belt, he was also looking for a bit of a challenge, and he was certain that sparring with Terra like this would provide him one.

He was vaguely aware of Rodimus bidding him farewell, though he wasn’t able to tear his eyes from Terra until after his amica had departed from the crowd. He wanted to at least know which direction Aqua and Rodimus had headed off in, but his holoform was too short to see over the people around him.

_I’m sure they’ll be fine_ , Drift thought as he turned his attention back to the spar, just in time to see Terra tackle Ven to the ground with a wicked smirk.

A few moments later Terra stood up, wiping his brow and grinning from ear to ear. The crowd cheered excitedly, though Terra paid the onlookers little mind as he offered a hand to help his friend off of the ground.

Drift pushed his way through the crowd, sauntering over to where Terra and Ven were standing and chatting. The smile on Terra’s face brightened when he spotted Drift, the expression making Drift’s heart beat almost frantically in his chest.

Ventus took Drift's arrival as his cue to leave, bounding over to where Skids and Swerve were standing on the sidelines. The three of them greeted each other excitedly before they all headed toward town, leaving Drift and Terra alone - well, aside from the huge crowd surrounding them.

It took every ounce of Drift’s willpower to keep his gaze on Terra’s smiling face, wanting nothing more than to take in the sight of that glistening, heaving chest up close. He tried his best to appear calm, merely raising an impressed brow at Terra.

"So... you up for a challenge, big guy?" Drift asked with a hand on his hip.

Terra gave Drift a brief once-over before nodding. "Why not? Just because I finished one fight doesn’t mean I’m tired," he teased, sliding into a starting pose.

"Good. I’m counting on that," Drift said with a grin of his own. He took a moment to stretch his arms behind his head and adjust his ponytail before falling into a similar pose. "Ready when you are, then."

And with that, they both began to move, circling and regarding each other with caution and curiosity. They each pulled a few test moves, figuring out how the other would react. Sure, they could have started off strong right out of the gate, but the whole point of a spar was that it was supposed to be a good, honest match all around.

It didn’t take long for them to push past the test moves, both much more comfortable with working around the other. The crowd around them cheered when the actual sparring began, neither one of them holding back anymore as they started to really go at it.

Terra was providing the challenge that Drift was seeking, not going easy on him in the slightest. He was definitely a hard-hitter, and Drift was glad that he wouldn’t have to worry about being sore afterward thanks to the nature of his holoform.

And, of course, Drift didn’t hold back either. While Ven seemed to be content with dodging, Drift was a little more gutsy, accepting the risk of taking a hit here or there to land a blow of his own. He was determined to beat Terra, though he was having so much fun that he wouldn’t mind all that much if Terra ended up winning.

The only downside so far was that Drift found himself getting uncomfortably warm. Whether it was from the blazing suns in the sky, the thorough exercise, or the tension building between him and Terra, Drift didn’t know. He figured that it was probably a combination of all of these things, and in the end, it didn’t really matter - being sticky with sweat was _not_ a sensation that he enjoyed.

Terra wasn’t faring much better, though he was lucky in that he didn’t have to worry about a wet shirt clinging to him. Drift promptly pushed _that_ little distraction to the back of his mind, focusing instead on staying on his feet and looking for an opening in Terra’s defense.

It didn’t take much longer for the opportunity to present itself - Terra reached for him, and Drift quickly ducked under his arm. Once he was out of the way, he swept a foot underneath Terra, knocking his legs out from under him.

The crowd around them went eerily quiet, and Terra fell to the ground with a surprised grunt. Drift was on him in an instant, straddling that perfect waist and pinning that muscular chest into the sand below.

"Gotcha," Drift purred.

* * *

Terra was breathless. And, granted, he did just get the wind knocked out of him when his back slammed into the ground with a resounding _thud_ , but as he stared at Drift he realized there was something more at play here.

The angle that the sunlight hit Drift left him literally glowing. His white hair shone brightly, almost creating a halo around his head, and the sweat that rolled down from his forehead made his skin glisten. And those eyes - they were always such a dazzling, vibrant blue, but now they practically sparkled as Drift smirked down at him.

It was at that moment that Terra realized two things:

One, Drift was absolutely gorgeous, and two, Terra _totally_ had the hots for him.

A small, barely audible "oh," punched its way out of him as Terra thought back to their previous interactions. The way he reacted to Drift at various moments made a lot more sense with this newfound knowledge, and he felt heat rush to his cheeks.

Drift smiled wider and, much to Terra’s surprise, leaned down closer, bringing their lips together.

Contrary to what Aqua and Ven may claim, Terra had, in fact, kissed before. The chaste pecks were quite tame compared to this, though - there had been no deft, roaming hands along his chest, no intriguing weight in his lap, no clear intention behind every movement.

This was an entirely different sort of kiss, and Terra was left floundering trying to figure out what he should do.

At first, he did nothing, a bit too shocked to react. Not only was he attracted to Drift, but apparently Drift was also attracted to him? And kissing him? It admittedly took him a moment to catch up.

But when he did, Terra found himself relaxing under Drift’s touch. The kiss had begun to slow a bit as though Drift were going to stop, so Terra tried his best to mimic Drift’s actions, not wanting him to pull away. He wasn't really sure what he was doing, but Drift didn’t seem to mind all that much, speeding the kiss right back up as soon as Terra returned it.

When Drift finally did pull away, after what felt like hours and still far too soon, Terra found himself heaving for breath. Every inch of him felt hot, almost too hot, and he was certain that everyone within a two-mile radius could hear his pounding heartbeat. He blinked up at Drift, utterly speechless, but he knew he should probably say _something_.

"Wow," was all his brain would provide his mouth, and he settled into the sand below.

Drift hummed in agreement, regarding Terra with a serene smile. His smile fell after a moment, though, a soft blush rising to his cheeks as he glanced around them.

"Uhh... Terra? Do you mind if we find somewhere a little more private to talk...?" he asked with an apologetic look.

It was with that question that Terra was brought back to the present, remembering that they were in the middle of what was once a very large crowd. Luckily, all but a few nosy onlookers seemed to know how to take a hint and had left, but still - they were definitely out in public.

Terra’s own cheeks grew hot and he nodded hastily, both of them moving to sit up. He scanned the area as they got to their feet, eager to get away from prying eyes now that this involved something other than sport.

A row of changing tents near the edge of the beach caught Terra’s eye, and he pointed toward them. "How about over there?" he suggested.

Drift barely had the chance to nod before Terra was grabbing his hand and leading them away, the feeling of eyes watching them pressing into his back until they were inside the tent with the flaps zipped shut.

They both let out a sigh of relief once they were in the shelter, some of the tension bleeding from the situation. Terra stood there awkwardly for a moment, not really sure what he should do, but thankfully Drift pointed him in the right direction.

"Here, take a seat," he said, gesturing toward the little bench in the corner of the tent.

Terra did just that, though the bench was so small that he took up the entire thing. Drift didn’t seem to mind, approaching him with a small smile and cupping his cheeks carefully. With the gentlest touch, he tilted Terra’s face up until their eyes met, and Drift’s gaze was so warm Terra felt like he was going to _melt_.

Drift leaned forward, leaving tiny kisses along Terra’s cheek until he was nuzzling against Terra’s ear. It was a bit ticklish, though not unpleasant.

"May I sit down?" He murmured against Terra’s skin, sending shivers down his spine.

Terra frowned, a confused sound bubbling up in his chest - there was only one seat in the tiny tent, and it was currently occupied. "Uhhh...?"

Drift giggled, nudging against Terra’s thigh with one of his own. "On your lap," he clarified.

"Oh." Heat rose to Terra’s cheeks, his heart hammering wildly in his chest, and he nodded. "Yeah, sure," he mumbled, leaning back a bit to give Drift a little more space.

He crawled onto Terra’s lap easily, moving his hands to wind around Terra’s neck. They blinked at each other for a moment, Drift’s movements going very still as he regarded Terra carefully. Terra merely watched him in return, his mind scrambling to try and figure out how this was going to proceed.

"Is this okay?" Drift asked, his brows pinched in concern.

Terra frowned, considering Drift’s question for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. This is... nice."

Drift hummed thoughtfully, not looking all that convinced. "Are _you_ okay?" he asked.

Terra nodded again, swallowing thickly. "Yeah, I’m fine," he said, shrugging one shoulder. "This is just kind of... new," he admitted, the blush on his cheeks intensifying.

Drift’s eyes went wide, his entire body going tense in an instant. "What?" he asked, his voice filled with disbelief. A flush rose to his cheeks as well, and he moved his eyes and hands away from Terra. "Wow, okay. I’m sorry, I had no idea or I would have done this a lot differently..."

It was touching how concerned Drift was, but Terra wasn’t exactly upset with the direction things had been going. He reached out to pick up Drift’s hands, smiling softly and running his thumbs over Drift’s knuckles. Drift blinked up at him in surprise, and Terra’s smile widened at how cute the expression was.

"You’ve got nothing to be sorry for," Terra reassured him. "I was having a nice time, I just don’t really... know what to do...?"

This drew a surprised laugh out of Drift, his small, soft hands squeezing Terra’s tightly. "Oh. Well, alright then. Let’s try this again, shall we?" he asked, releasing Terra’s hands to cup his cheeks again. "Just tell me if you don’t like something, or if you want to stop."

Terra was pretty sure that wouldn’t come up, but he nodded anyway. "Will do. Same with you, okay?"

"Why, yes, of course," Drift agreed easily, his smile morphing into something warmer as he searched Terra’s eyes. "May I kiss you again?"

The blush on Terra’s face grew hotter, and he nodded again. His eyes fluttered shut when Drift leaned forward, bringing their lips together once more.

Terra thought he knew what to expect after their last kiss, but this one was much slower than the one they shared on the beach. The fact that Drift was taking his time didn’t make the kiss any less enjoyable, though it was much easier for Terra to keep up this time.

He didn’t really know what to do with his hands, but placing them awkwardly on Drift’s sides seemed like a better idea than just letting them rest in his lap. Drift let out a soft sigh at the touch, trailing one hand down his chest again, and Terra allowed himself to relax a little bit.

When Drift pulled away to catch his breath, his eyelids were heavy, his hair was sticking up in every direction, and his face was a lovely shade of pink. Terra found himself chuckling breathlessly, suddenly overcome with how _adorable_ Drift was, especially all disheveled like this.

"What?" Drift asked, sounding almost self-conscious.

"Nothin’," Terra replied, shaking his head. "You’re just... really cute."

Drift sputtered, shaking his head and looking at Terra incredulously. "I’m a lot of things, but cute is not one of them," he said, the color on his cheeks brightening. He poked Terra in the center of his chest, giving him the sternest look possible while he was blushing so brightly.

Unsurprisingly, his flustered reaction followed by such a serious expression only made him more adorable, but he cut Terra off before he could point such a thing out.

"You, on the other hand, are gorgeous," Drift declared matter-of-factly. Terra’s face heated up at the unexpected compliment, and Drift grinned widely at him.

"I... No, that’s not... But..." Terra didn’t know what he was even trying to say, but it sure as hell wasn’t coming out anytime soon. He covered his face with one hand, sighing softly into his palm.

Drift giggled softly, reaching up to peel Terra’s hand away so he could leave little kisses all over it. "Oh, but you _are_ ," he said warmly. "Trust me on this one."

Terra opened his mouth to protest again when he was interrupted by an odd sound, something loud going off in the distance. He and Drift both sat still and listened for a moment, trying to figure out what it could be.

"What is that?" Drift asked, tilting his head. "Sounds kind of important."

Terra frowned. "I’m not sure. Almost sounds like a siren of some sort?"

Drift’s brows pinched in confusion, crawling off of Terra’s lap so they could both stand up. A series of panicked shouts was heard outside, drawing both men out of the changing tent to take in their surroundings.

The sky was filled with dark, ominous clouds, and all the beachgoers in sight were running for shelter. A distant roll of thunder reminded Terra of something he’d heard when he and his friends had first arrived on the surface of the world, and he frowned as he put two and two together.

"This world has some weather conditions that can hurt people, or even _kill_ you if you’re left out in it," he explained to Drift, his heart clenching in worry. "I gotta find my friends!"

Drift nodded, his own expression rather worried as he scanned the crowd running past them. "Yeah, me too. Who knows where Rodimus ran off to," he said with a sigh before turning toward Terra again. "I’ll let you know if I hear about Ven or Aqua."

"Thanks," Terra said, his heart fluttering at how thoughtful Drift was. "Same here, if I hear about Rodimus."

The wind around them started to pick up, blowing sand and other debris around. Drift reached out to grab his hand, squinting up at him. "Thank you. Please be careful, okay?"

Terra gave Drift’s hand a reassuring squeeze. "You too," he said, leaning down to give him a small peck on the cheek before sprinting down the beach, eyes scanning the crowd for either of his friends. Drift did the same, calling Rodimus and Aqua’s name as he headed in the opposite direction.

Unfortunately, by the time the rain began to fall, Terra was still desperately calling out for his friends and had yet to find any shelter. As soon as the first drop of rain hit his skin, Terra realized exactly why the sirens were used - as much as he wanted to find Aqua and Ventus, he knew he needed to get out before the storm picked up or he’d be sorry.

"Terra!" a familiar voice called from a nearby store.

Relief rushed through Terra as he caught sight of Ventus, standing in the doorway of a shop with Skids and Swerve at his side, the three of them beckoning him toward the building with distressed expressions. Terra was inside in an instant, pulling Ven into a tight hug.

"Where’s Aqua?" Ven asked.

Terra shook his head. "I... don’t know," he admitted, watching as the rain turned into a steady downpour. Worry churned in his gut for Aqua, and for Rodimus and Drift too - but there wasn’t much he could do to help them now.

All he could do was hope that they all made it to shelter in time.

* * *

Drift was beyond thankful when he and Magnus found Rodimus, who was safe and sound along with Aqua. The first thing he did was send Terra a message to let him know his friend was alright, in case she hadn’t already contacted him.

He was sure to leave out the part where he and Magnus panicked as they heard from every crewmember _except_ for Rodimus, and by extension, Aqua. There was no mention of how he, Magnus, and Megatron huddled around a console, tracking down Rodimus’ location through his comm unit signal. It was easy enough to find, but there was no way they’d be able to go down and check on him without arousing suspicion from the locals in the storm.

Rodimus was probably fine, as his root form was still recharging peacefully on the slab where he had left it. Drift had gotten pretty soaked from the rain without feeling any of the ill effects, so his amica was probably unaffected by it as well. But it was highly unusual for him to not check in, especially while he was with Aqua, and that didn’t sit well in Drift’s spark _at all_.

But, Drift’s worry was misplaced - so he was certain to also leave out the part about Aqua and Rodimus being found clinging to each other in a loving embrace, soaking wet and blushing brightly after Magnus obliterated the door to their shelter.

If Aqua wanted to share that information with Terra, that was her business.

A chirp from Drift’s comm unit alerted him that Terra had responded. The message was clearly relieved, as he hadn’t heard from Aqua until that point. Drift shook his head, watching with amusement as Rodimus stepped out into the sunlight, looking both annoyed and guilty at this turn of events.

On one hand, he was incredibly curious about what Rodimus and Aqua had been up to that had occupied their attention in such a manner, but on the other hand, he supposed he had no room to judge.

His mind flashed back to Terra’s soft, warm mouth moving against his; the feeling of Terra’s smooth skin underneath his fingertips, still a little sticky with sweat from their sparring; the bright blush that was so easy to draw out, running from the tips of Terra’s ears to the middle of his chest...

Yeah. Drift definitely had no room to judge.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for these two to have a nice, cute date! Also, this chapter is where that "suggestive content" tag starts to kick in.

Drift couldn’t remember the last time he’d been on a date. There hadn’t been much time for that lately, with all the adventuring and fighting a war and such, so he found that he was actually kind of nervous.

It didn’t help that Rodimus had been pacing all day long, clearly worried about the outcome of his own date. Even now, as they waited on the beach for the trio to arrive, his amica was stomping around, slinging sand all over the place as he did so. Drift supposed he could understand why Rodimus was so anxious - especially considering the outcome of the other dates he’d had with Aqua - but it wasn’t doing a whole lot to help either of them.

As Rodimus made his next pass, Drift reached out, grabbing his shoulder and bringing him to a screeching halt. Rodimus’ head whipped toward him, eyes bright and brows pinched.

"Bro," Drift said quietly, moving his hand to hold on to Rodimus’ forearm. "Just breathe. It’s gonna go fine."

Rodimus frowned at him, his shoulders sagging under the weight of his thoughts. "But what if it _doesn’t_?"

Drift smiled sadly, shrugging a shoulder. "Well, it might not, but worrying yourself to death isn’t really gonna prevent bad things from happening."

"Hmmm... that is a good point," Rodimus nodded, kicking his foot to dump some of the sand off of his shoe. "Sorry. I just... really want this to go well."

"It’ll go great, I’m sure!" Drift insisted, giving Rodimus’ arm a gentle squeeze before letting it go. "You look very handsome. I’d be _really_ surprised if you couldn’t woo her."

"Aww, thanks." Rodimus sent him a weak smile, gesturing toward Drift’s outfit. "So do you. What are you doing tonight?"

"Ah, well, I'm going on a..." Drift's response trailed off as he spotted movement in the distance. He squinted, realizing that it was Aqua, Terra, and Ven heading their way - right on time!

"Look, there they are!" he said, waving eagerly at them. His grin widened when they all waved back, and he turned to see Rodimus watching Aqua with a soft smile on his face.

Watching how sweet Rodimus and Aqua were as they greeted each other nearly melted Drift’s heart. It wasn’t until Ven announced that he was heading out to meet Swerve that Drift remembered, oh yeah, he had plans for tonight as well. Drift tore his eyes away from Rodimus, startling a bit when he realized Terra was standing right next to him, looking as handsome as ever.

"Oh! Didn’t see you there," Drift remarked, turning sharply on his heel so he could grin up at Terra. "Hello!"

"Hey yourself," Terra replied with a grin, though he sounded a little... nervous.

Drift wanted nothing more than to reach out and wrap him up in a tight, comforting hug, but also didn’t want to come across too strong, so he stood on his tiptoes to kiss Terra softly on the cheek instead.

Terra’s entire face heated up at the tiny gesture, but Drift didn’t get a chance to admire it before he was pulled closer, held in a firm hug. He all but melted in the embrace, not realizing how chilled he had gotten until he was all snuggled up against Terra’s toasty chest.

Drift was reluctant to leave the warmth for any reason, but he _really_ wanted another kiss. So, he pulled back a bit, cupping Terra’s cheeks and coaxing him to lean down a little. Terra’s eyes widened for a moment before Drift pressed their mouths together, kissing him nice and slow.

It was just as wonderful as it had been yesterday, especially now that Terra had kind of gotten the hang of what he was doing. Admittedly, it was a bit difficult to not get distracted by Terra’s hands, the careful hold he had on Drift being more than enough to send warmth rushing right to the pit of his stomach.

Drift was a little sad when it was time to pull away and breathe, but luckily Terra didn’t stray too far, keeping his hands on Drift’s sides as he gazed down into his eyes. The wide, almost goofy grin stretching across Terra’s face was, quite frankly, adorable - Drift silently vowed to kiss him softly and slowly as often as possible, if only to see him smile like that again.

"So, what’s the plan?" Terra asked once he’d sobered up a little bit, hands smoothing up and over Drift’s shoulders.

"Well... there isn’t much of one," Drift admitted. He was generally the kind of person who liked to have some structure, but he was perfectly fine with being flexible if the situation called for it. "But don’t worry - I fully intend to show you a good time."

The light flush that had started to fade from Terra’s face grew bright once again, and he looked down at Drift with wide eyes. "Oh. Uh, well, alright, that sounds. Good."

Drift tilted his head in confusion before belatedly realizing the phrasing of his response. While that was something he very much wanted to do, and _soon_ , to say it like that was a bit forward, even for him.

"Ah! No, not like that," he reassured Terra quickly as his own cheeks heated up. "Well. Maybe like that, later, if you want, but I meant like. A date. Dinner? Can I take you out to dinner?"

He wanted to slap himself, only just barely refraining from doing so. This was probably the most awkward he’d been in... ever? He was quickly beginning to realize why Rodimus was stumbling so much with Aqua, hardly resembling the suave, flirty mech that Drift had come to know.

Terra nodded, swallowing hard as he thought it over. "Oh. Well, I um..." his eyes darted away shyly for a moment before returning to meet Drift’s. " _That_ would be something I’m... interested in, I think, but dinner first would be good."

Drift smiled, his heart melting at the sight before him - how could such a big, tough looking guy be so adorable?

"Okay, perfect!" Drift agreed excitedly. "We can worry about that other stuff later, right now I need some food in my tummy."

Some of the tension fell from Terra’s shoulders, and he chuckled quietly. "Yeah, me too. What kind of food do you like?"

Drift pulled out his comm unit, quickly doing a search on what was good and relatively close to them. He didn’t have much of a preference, especially considering how little human food he’d actually eaten, but so far everywhere that Terra and his friends had recommended was good.

They looked over the most appealing options, eventually settling on a cozy little pizza place. Drift was a bit thankful, as he actually kind of knew what pizza was - flat, round, and covered in all sorts of goodies, right?

"That sounds perfect!" Drift said with a nod. "I’ll pay --"

"Ah, no. You don’t have to do that," Terra said with a nervous smile. "We can just split it. I do... appreciate the offer, though."

"Oh, alright." Drift rolled his eyes, though there was no ill intent behind the action. He knew to expect such ridiculousness by this point. "Maybe next time, then," he suggested with one more soft kiss to Terra’s cheek.

And with that, they were off to dinner.

Well... sort of.

Their journey started off a bit slow, as Drift was having a hard time untangling himself from Terra’s grasp. It was windy out and Terra was just so _warm_ and _comfy_ , like a walking space heater. He grumbled a bit, frowning as he slowly pulled away from Terra’s arms and turned to face the direction they needed to go.

Terra chuckled quietly before wrapping an arm around Drift’s shoulder, not seeming to mind Drift’s clinginess all that much. Drift sighed happily as he leaned into Terra’s side once more, and then they were actually off to dinner - for real this time.

"It’s been a while since I had pizza," Terra remarked after a few minutes of walking, once the restaurant was within sight. "Is it weird to be excited about eating food?"

Drift laughed softly, darting out of Terra’s arms as they approached the door so he could hold it open. "Nah! If it’s something you really like, I don’t think it’s that weird."

Once inside, Drift was nearly overwhelmed by the giant menu behind the counter. Because this planet was trying to appeal to as many tourists as possible, most of the offered toppings were a mystery to him - though, the fact that he didn’t really eat organic food certainly wasn’t helping. He wondered if Terra knew what any of these things were, turning to glance up at his companion, who looked equally as confused by the menu. Luckily, the place wasn’t too busy just yet, so they had a few minutes to decide what they wanted.

"So, what do you usually get on pizza?" Drift asked.

Terra hummed thoughtfully, head tilting as he took in the menu. "I tend to like mine pretty savory, so... usually things like meat, maybe some peppers for spice? Nothing sweet like fruit, though," he said, scrunching his nose in distaste before turning down to look at Drift. "What do you eat on yours?"

Drift blanched at the detailed response, not expecting something as small as pizza topping preferences to be so specific and unique - though he supposed it made sense, considering all of the variety that was apparently available.

When his question was turned on him, Drift admittedly didn’t know how to answer. He and Terra had a fairly similar flavor palate at least, so he figured that together they could find something suitable.

"Well... out of the things I can recognize, I know that I like, uhh..." Drift squinted at the menu for a moment. "Cheese?"

He looked back up at Terra, who was waiting expectantly for the rest of his preferred toppings before realizing that was the end of it. They blinked at each other for a moment before they both started laughing.

"Yeah. Uh. I have... no idea what any of this stuff is," Drift admitted quietly between giggles. "We don’t have this sort of thing on my planet."

Terra nodded, tossing Drift a small grin. "Yeah, I don’t recognize most of the stuff on here either. Seems like they don’t have chickens on this world, which is a shame..." he said with a sigh, considering their options again.

Drift pointed to one end of the menu. "Well, there’s a savory option over there, which could be hit or miss, but maybe it could provide some inspiration...?"

It took them a few minutes to decide, but they settled on ordering one plain cheese pizza and one with a couple of supposedly ‘savory’ ingredients. Terra bravely chose the interesting looking toppings, as Drift trusted the actual pizza eater’s judgment more than his own. The cashier tiredly took their order, handing them a table number and some beverage cups once they paid for their food.

Once they got their drinks, Drift pointed over to a booth in the corner. "Is that spot okay with you?" he asked.

Terra nodded. "That looks good, yeah."

They headed over and Terra slid into one side of the booth. Drift followed suit, though he decided to sit next to Terra rather than across from him - where would be the fun in that?

Drift grinned mischievously at his companion, who smiled and rolled his eyes, but otherwise did nothing to protest the arrangement. They fell into a comfortable conversation about the cooler weather, enjoying each other’s company until their food arrived a few minutes later.

The cheese pizza looked absolutely delicious, while the other one looked... interesting, to say the least. Even Drift was taken aback by the neon colored peppers and bright blue meat that Terra had apparently chosen. They stared at it for a long moment before exchanging a hesitant look. Drift watched as Terra took a moment to steel himself, brow furrowed with determination when he reached forward to grab a slice, bravely taking one for the team. He stared at it for a moment before leaning forward and biting down on the piece of pizza, chewing thoughtfully.

He was quiet for a long time, and Drift awaited his reaction with wide, expectant eyes. After he swallowed his bite, he looked at the remainder of the slice with a shrug. "It’s not bad," he admitted.

Drift trusted Terra’s judgment, but the mystery pizza was still admittedly a little intimidating. It wasn’t until Terra willingly took another bite of it that Drift decided to take a chance. His bite was much smaller and timider than Terra’s was, but in the end, he realized that it really _wasn’t_ that bad - the little pepper things were particularly good, whatever they were.

"Huh. You’re right," Drift said with a nod. "It is surprisingly tasty!"

Now that the apprehension of the new experience was out of the way, they both relaxed into the booth. It was relatively quiet for a few minutes as they ate, and Drift found himself casually bumping his shoulder against Terra’s.

"So, how have things been? Are you and your friends enjoying your vacation?" Drift asked while grabbing another slice.

Terra was in the middle of a bite, and he nodded as he chewed. He took his time eating, and Drift waited patiently for his response.

"Things have been good," he replied once he swallowed his food. "We’ve had a great time here, honestly. It’s been nice to relax, especially after... well. Everything," he admitted, frowning down at the table for a moment.

Drift’s brows pinched in worry, knowing that look all too well. He wasn’t sure what "everything" entailed, but he knew that Terra and his friends were far too young to experience things that affected them in such a way.

Before Drift could ask if he was alright, Terra pulled himself out of the unpleasant thoughts and turned toward Drift again with a grimace. His expression softened a bit when their eyes met, and he offered a small smile instead.

"What about you?" he asked, seemingly eager to change the subject. "You and your crewmates doing well?"

Drift reached over to squeeze Terra’s free hand reassuringly, giving him a soft look to let him know that he was there. He didn’t want to pry, but he wanted it to be clear that he cared.

"Yeah, the crew seems to be happy here." Drift smiled, returning his hand to his lap. "They really earned the shore leave. Rodimus especially. Our last few pit stops haven’t... gone so well, and he’s taking it really hard."

Drift shook his head. "But, I think it’s good that we met up with you guys. He seems to really enjoy Aqua’s company, though... it kind of sucks that things haven’t gone so well for them," Drift said, his mouth curling into an amused grin. "That’s what happens when you date the captain of such an... _eclectic_ crew."

"Yeah," Terra agreed with a small smile of his own, though it fell rather quickly. "Aqua’s been agonizing over things for the past few nights. Whatever happened yesterday seemed to really upset her, though... she didn’t go into too much detail about it." He glanced out the window, gazing at the setting suns for a long moment. "I hope tonight goes better for them."

"Me too," Drift said. "They seem to really like each other." 

He tried to ignore the feeling in the pit of his stomach that something wasn’t quite _right_. For all he knew, it was one piece of blue alien meat too many - perhaps it was a good time to tap out.

Terra nodded, sighing softly as he turned back to look at the pizza that remained on the table. "Well, I dunno about you, but I think I’m done eating," Terra said with a small smile, as though he’d read Drift’s mind.

"Oh yeah, me too," Drift agreed, patting his stomach lightly. "Let’s figure out what we’re gonna do with the rest of this."

It didn’t take them too long to distribute the remaining slices between the two boxes, though Drift insisted that Terra take a couple of extra slices for his friends. Afterward, they made their way out of the restaurant, thanking the employees by the door as they left. The streets outside were fairly peaceful, only a few people milling about.

Drift grinned when he felt Terra’s free arm wrap around him once more, and it widened when he felt the soft kiss to the crown of his head. For someone who was new to dating, Terra sure seemed to get the hang of the affectionate stuff rather quickly. Drift was glad for that, considering it was his favorite part and all. He eagerly leaned into Terra’s side, happy to note that it was still toasty and warm.

"Thanks for going to dinner with me," Terra said as they headed down the sidewalk, not seeming to be going anywhere in particular. "I really enjoyed it."

"Thank you for going with me! It was tasty," Drift said, beaming up at Terra. "What would you like to do now?"

"I don’t know," Terra replied, his eyes darting around them as a flush crept up his cheeks. "I guess we could... head back to my hotel or yours? Maybe, umm, watch a movie?"

The way Terra said it suggested he was hinting at some... _other_ activities, much to Drift’s surprise. He hadn’t expected his question to spark such thoughts, though he supposed that it made sense considering their conversation from earlier. While he would absolutely be on board with that, he didn’t want Terra to feel pressured into doing anything he didn’t want to do. Sure, Terra was the one that brought it up, but he also seemed a bit anxious about it.

"Well, I’d be okay with that if you are. But please don’t worry about... doing anything else. Okay?" he asked, grabbing Terra’s free hand and squeezing it reassuringly. "It would probably be fun, but we don’t have to do anything like that if you don’t want to. We can just visit!"

Terra nodded in understanding. "Thanks. I... appreciate that," he said with a small smile.

"Of course!" Drift replied cheerfully. "As for where to go... would you mind if we went to your place? I’d rather we didn’t have to fight off a bunch of nosy crewmates, no matter what ends up happening."

In all honesty, Drift didn’t _have_ a room to go to. All he had was his habsuite on the ship, and while he liked and trusted Terra a lot, he wasn’t quite ready to disclose the details regarding his identity. He fully intended to tell him if they really hit it off, but right now he couldn’t really tell how things were going to go, and he didn’t want to risk starting a planet-wide panic just yet.

"Sure," Terra said with a small nod, taking the lead toward the hotel where he was staying with his friends. "My place it is, then."

The walk to the hotel was fairly short and uneventful, filled with light, pleasant conversation. It didn’t take long for them to reach the room, which looked about the same as any planetside room Drift had stayed in - well, it was obviously smaller than the ones built to accommodate Cybertronians, but it had a place to sleep and was just furnished enough to not feel cold and blank.

While Drift peered around the room, Terra stepped away, heading over to deposit the food boxes in the mini-fridge. Once that was done, he turned around, gesturing vaguely toward the room.

"So, uh, here we are," he said.

"Here we are, indeed." Drift smiled reassuringly at him, heading further into the room. "Who is sleeping where? I don’t want to taint anyone’s spot..." Even if they weren’t going past cuddles, he’d hate to get the sheets all wadded up if someone else was going to lay there.

Terra pointed to the bed that was closest to the bathroom, walking over to it. "I’m sleeping over there tonight. We kind of switch every night so nobody’s stuck with the pull-out couch for the whole vacation," he explained as he sat on the edge of the mattress.

"Gotcha," Drift said with a nod. He wasn’t sure how on earth someone of Terra’s size could comfortably lay on that little couch, but he’d personally slept in worse places - sometimes you just have to make do.

He watched as Terra kicked off his shoes before pulling his legs up to recline on the bed, and Drift followed suit before crawling on next to him. Drift curled up into his side, resting his head on Terra’s chest as Terra flipped through the movies that were available. Terra’s arm found its way around Drift once more, hand resting lightly on his waist.

"Any preferences?" Terra asked.

Sitting this close to Terra, Drift was admittedly having a little bit of trouble focusing, but he forced his overactive imagination away. "Nah, I’m pretty good with whatever. Just... nothing too scary, please?" he requested quietly, not wanting to deal with nightmares of any sort if he could avoid it.

"Alright, no horror. Got it." Terra nodded, not seeming bothered by that at all as he continued to look. He eventually stopped on one that was labeled as a comedy, the synopsis saying it was about two friends going on a road trip and the shenanigans they run into.

"I have no idea what this is, but it looks... promising?" Terra said.

Drift nodded, finding the premise to be interesting enough. "Works for me!"

And with that, Terra hit play and they both relaxed a bit.

Unfortunately, despite the promising description, the movie was... kind of terrible. Perhaps it was a cultural difference, but Drift thought that calling it a comedy was a bit of a stretch, as none of the jokes were all that funny. It didn’t help that the acting wasn’t great and that the pacing was so slow that it was actually kind of boring.

Between the subpar movie, his full belly, and how comfortable he was all pressed into Terra’s side, Drift found himself becoming drowsy after a few minutes. He blinked a few times, stretching his arms and legs in an attempt to wake up a little bit.

Terra tensed a little at the sudden fidgeting, his grip on Drift loosening. "You okay?" he asked.

Drift nodded. "I’m fine. This movie is... kind of putting me to sleep though," he admitted softly, turning his head to give Terra an apologetic look.

"Yeah. Same here," Terra replied with a chuckle. "I think this might have been the wrong choice."

It was Drift’s turn to laugh, happy to know he wasn’t alone. "Well, that makes me feel a lot better. I’m enjoying your company but... I think you and I could write a better comedy than this. And I’m about as unfunny as it gets."

"Yeah," Terra agreed. "I’ve been told my jokes leave something to be desired but... they’re better than this," he said, gesturing toward the TV with his free arm before wrapping it around Drift, holding him gently. "I’m glad you’re still having a nice time, though. I am too."

"Good. That’s the important thing," Drift said, laying his head down on Terra’s shoulder again.

He felt his heart squeeze with delight as he was pulled a little closer, his face pressed into the crook of Terra’s neck. He smoothed a hand over Terra’s chest, noting the nearly frantic heartbeat beneath his fingertips, and he felt more than saw Terra swallow nervously.

"Is this... okay?" Drift asked quietly.

Terra nodded, humming affirmatively. "Yeah, this is fine," he replied.

"Okay." Drift smiled, leaving tiny little kisses on Terra’s throat, which was smooth and wonderful smelling.

It was quite the challenge for Drift to not hurry things along, especially when the hands that were resting on his back slid a little further down, resting cautiously on his hips. Drift squirmed a little under the touch, letting out a soft laugh. He pulled his head back so he could raise an amused brow at Terra, who was red-faced and wide-eyed and _adorable_.

"I can’t help but feel like you want something," Drift teased lightly.

Terra blushed harder, his eyes darting away from Drift’s. "I... yeah, you could say that," he agreed with a small smile of his own.

Before Drift could ask him to elaborate, Terra turned toward him once more, moving one hand to cup his cheek. Drift’s heart leapt into his throat when Terra pulled gently, urging him closer so he could bring their lips together.

It was quite nice, though the angle was a little awkward for Drift, so he did his best to reposition himself without breaking the kiss. It worked pretty well, as he was now settled on Terra’s lap and no longer craning his neck. But, as he got more comfortable, he felt Terra tense beneath him again.

"Is this still okay?" he asked breathlessly, his hands running over Terra’s heaving chest.

Terra swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah. This is more than okay," he replied, his voice a little more hoarse than it was before. "Just... nervous."

Drift reached forward to cup those burning cheeks, thumbs running careful little circles in his skin. "That’s alright," he said. His own stomach twisted anxiously and eagerly as they sat there, the realization of what they were doing beginning to sink in, and he offered Terra a small, wobbly smile. "I’m kinda nervous too."

"Really?" Terra asked skeptically.

Drift nodded. "It’s umm... been a while," he admitted shyly - though, Terra definitely did not need to know exactly how long a _while_ was. "So. No need to rush or... do anything. Just let me know if you want to stop or something, okay?"

"Okay," Terra agreed. He took a deep, calming breath, some of the tension leaving his frame. "That sounds pretty good to me."

And with that, he leaned forward again, kissing Drift with so much tenderness he swore he was going to melt.

* * *

As it turned out, things went a lot farther and faster than Terra had been expecting, which was fine by him. Drift was very patient and ridiculously sweet about the whole thing - not that Terra expected anything different - and it made the experience a lot less nerve-wracking so far. 

He was having a good time, even if they were still in the process of getting undressed, and Drift seemed to be enjoying himself as well. There were only a scant few layers between them now, and Terra’s stomach began to churn nervously once again.

Drift paused after he tossed Terra’s pants to the side, though instead of the friendly, smiling face Terra had been seeing all night, Drift looked almost... hurt. He frowned deeply, eyes squinting shut before a hand shot to his temple, clutching at his head.

"Drift? You okay?" Terra asked as he sat up some. Drift didn’t respond, and worry churned in Terra’s gut.

Terra tentatively cupped Drift’s cheeks, feeling a little bad at the way he flinched. Bright blue eyes searched Terra’s own before Drift’s expression morphed into something almost... apologetic.

"What’s wrong?" Terra asked quietly.

"Oh, Terra..." Drift sighed softly, placing his hands on Terra’s chest and ducking his head. "This is gonna sound... really fake, and I’m sorry, but. Something is wrong." Drift rubbed at his head before looking up to meet Terra’s eyes again. "I’m being summoned aboard the ship. There’s been an emergency and I... I need to go," he explained.

"Wait... what?" Terra asked.

Drift leaned forward, placing a small, shaky kiss on Terra’s cheek, the guilt and distress in his eyes making Terra’s heart squeeze roughly. "I’m sorry," he whispered again.

And then he was gone.

Terra blinked several times as he tried to process what had just happened. Drift literally _vanished_ , right before his very eyes: the spot he had just occupied had already started to go cold, and it looked like his clothes had disappeared right along with him, leaving no trace of him even being there.

"What the hell?" he asked to no one in particular. He slowly got up and off of the bed, glancing around dazedly.

Several negative emotions swirled around in the pit of Terra’s stomach, none of which he could properly identify, but he pushed them aside as he walked across the room. A series of agitated shouts and a crash from out in the parking lot suggested that there were bigger problems to deal with at the moment - though he couldn’t help but wonder if the ruckus outside was related to Drift’s sudden departure.

Either way, there was no time for wallowing in his own feelings right now. There’d be plenty of time for that later, he was sure.

Terra quickly tugged on pair of sweatpants, ignoring his own discomfort as he grabbed his phone and the metal for his armor - something told him that he’d be needing it - and hurried out of the room.

He wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but he knew he had to get to the bottom of this.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you ever been in such a big hurry that you just... forgot to put on a shirt?

Terra rushed through the hotel, donning only his sweatpants and the metal of his armor. He tried his best to ignore the stares of people milling about the lobby, focusing instead on getting outside and figuring out what the hell was going on.

He also paid little attention to the rush of cool air that hit him once he was actually outdoors. Luckily, nobody really seemed to pay him any mind out here, as most people were too busy watching or participating in a large, angry mob.

Terra made his way over to join some of the bystanders to try and assess the situation. Locals rushed past them, shouting and running frantically toward... well, Terra couldn’t tell _where_ they were going just yet. Still, it was clear that they all had one destination in mind, judging by the ease that they navigated the streets and sidewalks.

He couldn’t help the nagging feeling in his gut that this had _something_ to do with Drift’s disappearance, though what the connection was, he couldn’t say. The timing of it all just seemed like too much of a coincidence.

Terra turned toward the person standing next to him, fully intending to ask them what was going on, when movement in the sky caught his attention.

It was Aqua, dressed in her armor, flying high above the crowd on her glider. She looked to be heading in the same direction as the mob, and it was then that Terra realized, if there actually _was_ an emergency as Drift had suggested, Rodimus must have disappeared as well.

Terra dreaded to think of how Aqua could be handling that, considering... well, everything she’d been through.

With a frown, Terra pulled away from the crowd, activating his armor. He then summoned his keyblade, quickly transforming it to his own glider to catch up with Aqua in the sky. Judging by the speed she was traveling, she seemed to have some sort of idea as to what was going on, so Terra hoped that they’d be able to get to the bottom of this together.

* * *

Rodimus allowed Drift to hold his servos for a long time, neither one of them speaking just yet as they each pondered the mess of the situation they'd been caught in.

Thunderclash had roused suspicion from the locals during the acidic rainstorm from the day before, and when he was confronted about it, he ended up blowing the Lost Light's cover. Of course, Rodimus nearly blew a gasket when he found out, even with the knowledge that Thunderclash was just trying to help people get to safety during the storm. 

Luckily for Thunderclash, now that most of the crew had successfully made their way back on board again, it seemed that the scolding from Rodimus would be toned down significantly, if it happened at all.

But despite the more promising outcome of their evacuation, Rodimus was still very obviously stressed about everything else that must have occurred, though Drift couldn't blame him. Rather than let him stew in his own thoughts, Drift decided to speak up and make sure his amica was alright.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" he offered, loosening his grip on Rodimus’ servos in case he wanted to pull away.

Rodimus sat up, his spoiler sagging further as he considered the question. "I was just about to kiss her, Drift," he said. "Talk about the worst timing ever!"

Drift raised an eyebrow at the unexpected response, giving Rodimus an incredulous look. "Wait... you still haven’t kissed her yet?"

Rodimus snorted, gently pulling his servos free and leaning back in his chair. "No? I mean... I wanted to. Ever since she hit me in the head with the volleyball, I wanted to. And... We were so close. I had her face cupped right in my hands, we were literally inches apart..." He scrubbed a servo over his face, huffing with frustration. "I should have just done it. I was right fragging there! At least she could have been kissed before I ditched her! And I didn’t even get to pay for dinner! Can you believe that? Primus, I am the lousiest date ever..."

Drift knew he _should_ say something comforting. He should tell Rodimus that everyone makes mistakes, that he had every right to be upset by what had happened, that this whole situation was beyond his control. But all Drift could focus on was what he and Terra had been up to.

Had he been moving things too fast? Terra seemed to be on board with it, had agreed multiple times to continue onward, but still... They’d only known each other for a few days.

"Oh," was all Drift managed to say, a light flush rising to his cheeks at the thought.

Rodimus scoffed. "...Oh? What do you mean _oh?_ "

Drift kept his optics glued to his servos, which were twisting nervously in his lap. "Uhhh... well, I guess I’m just... _surprised_ is all," he replied with a small voice.

"Surprised?" Rodimus asked incredulously, clearly not buying it. He leaned forward again, moving his head until their gazes met. Drift blushed brighter, unable to look Rodimus in the optics.

"Drift?" Rodimus asked, his voice soft and laced with worry. "Cut the crap. What’s all this about?"

Drift’s frown deepened, and he let out a shaky sigh as the realization of what he’d done started to sink in.

He swallowed hard. "I... think I fragged up, too."

Oh, but that was a hell of an understatement, wasn’t it?

Not only had he disappeared right before Terra’s eyes, but he’d left him when he was incredibly vulnerable and trusting. And thanks to the fact that they were evacuating, he wouldn’t even get a chance to apologize for what he’d done - not that it would have helped. Even if he could apologize, he couldn’t expect Terra to ever forgive him.

Yeah. He’d _definitely_ screwed up. Drift buried his face in his servos, his whole helm now flushed with shame and guilt.

"What? What happened?" Rodimus asked, his own servos resting on Drift’s knees.

Drift tentatively pulled a servo away from his face, glancing at Rodimus for a brief moment. "I... well, I was kind of... in the middle of something too. With Terra. When the incident occurred. And then I just... left him," he explained softly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Drift’s optics darted toward Rodimus’ again. His amica’s face was scrunched in a contemplative frown, struggling to understand what Drift as saying.

Rodimus shook his head. "What... what kind of something?"

"You _know_ ," Drift replied, struggling to find a way to say it without outright _saying_ it, but his processor refused to cooperate. He looked helplessly at his amica, hoping he’d be able to put two and two together.

After a long moment of thinking, Rodimus shot out of his seat. He moved swiftly enough to send his chair toppling over, clattering loudly to the floor, and Drift startled at the sudden sound.

"You were what? You were - you two were _canoodling?!_ " Rodimus shouted. He didn’t seem angry, more shocked than anything if the servo flying to clutch at his helm was any indication, but the volume and tone of his voice still made Drift flinch.

"I mean, no? We were literally just about to, though. Like... Clothes were removed and everything," he mumbled.

Drift’s spark twisted uncomfortably, recalling the confusion in Terra’s eyes at the half-assed explanation and rushed goodbye. He couldn’t even begin to fathom what Terra had felt at that moment, what he could be feeling _now_ after being abandoned in such a state.

A comforting servo gripped Drift’s shoulder, drawing him from his thoughts. "Sorry for yelling, I just... I had no idea you two were, were even..." Rodimus trailed off, shaking his head in disbelief. "I’m sorry that happened. That’s... really unfortunate."

Drift nodded, sighing deeply. He was still frustrated with himself over the whole ordeal, but he felt a little better now that he’d gotten it off of his chest, at least.

"Yeah..." he said before smiling sadly up at Rodimus. "I can’t believe you didn’t even _kiss_ Aqua yet. You must’ve really been taking it slow, huh?"

Rodimus shrugged too, giving a nod. "I was just trying to do things right for once, I guess," he explained. "I... As soon as I saw her blush the first time I knew that I couldn’t just do my usual thing. She deserved to be treated _right_. I thought I was doing pretty well, too, but I guess I should have, y’know, stopped screwing around with it..."

The way Rodimus had phrased it, about treating Aqua right by taking things slow, only made the guilt swirling around Drift’s spark intensify, but he shoved it away. He could feel sorry for himself later, once things had settled down some.

"Well, to be fair, not a whole lot of _screwing_ was being achieved on your end," Drift said with a halfhearted chuckle, trying to lighten the situation in some way. Unsurprisingly, he failed, but Rodimus tried to play along at least.

"Oh yeah? That’s an interesting point coming from you, considering the circumstances," Rodimus teased back, though his voice was missing its usual mirth.

"Is this _really_ the appropriate time to be having this discussion...?" Magnus interrupted, reminding the two of them that he was in the room as well. His faceplates were pale, expression forlorn, as though he had just endured the entirety of the Cybertronian war again in a matter of minutes.

"Yes!" Drift and Rodimus cried in unison, causing the second-in-command to raise his hands defensively.

* * *

Terra was thankful that flying only took a small part of his focus, allowing him to try and untangle the mess of the situation he and his friends had found themselves in. When Ventus joined them in his own armor and glider, informing them that his friends had vanished just as Drift and Rodimus had, Aqua explained what little she had heard about the disappearing crew. Terra didn’t want to jump to conclusions just yet, considering that the truth was still unfolding, but he figured it’d be best to at least iron out what he did know.

So... Rodimus, Drift, and the rest of the crew were aliens. Giant, robotic aliens that used holograms to interact with humanoids on the surface of a world that seemed all but ready to _kill_ them.

Part of him still couldn’t believe that Drift was a hologram, honestly. The fact that he had fizzled out of existence all but proved what Aqua had heard, but Drift just felt too... too _real_.

A sense of unease swirled around in Terra’s belly when he realized that Aqua had phrased it perfectly - he’d been _tricked_. They all had.

Terra knew he was too quick to trust his heart, but this time he was _certain_ that he’d read the situation right. Drift seemed so kind. He was so genuine and patient and happy to get to know Terra better, and Terra couldn’t really think of any ill intentions behind Drift’s actions.

He supposed Drift could have been taking advantage of his trust to sleep with him, but the way he continuously checked in on Terra seemed to suggest otherwise. Drift hadn’t Seemed coercive at all, instead allowing and encouraging Terra to make decisions for himself.

Sure, things were moving pretty quickly between them, but the thought of Drift being intentionally manipulative just didn’t make any sense.

His thoughts were interrupted when Ven checked in on Aqua, asking if she was alright. Her quiet response made Terra’s heart sink - sure, he had no doubt that she would eventually _be_ okay, but he could tell that right now she was anything but.

She’d briefly told them both about what it had been like in the Realm of Darkness - chasing after illusions of people that she knew, only to have them disappear entirely - so he figured that Rodimus vanishing like that had really rattled her. Luckily, Terra and Ven’s corroboration that they had experienced something similar tonight seemed to have grounded her somewhat, though she was still understandably stressed about the whole ordeal.

Terra barely spared a moment to answer when Ven turned the question on him, the lie tasting sour in his mouth - he knew he was definitely _not_ fine. Anger, fear, and hurt coursed through him, though he was trying very hard not to dwell on it right now.

Right now, he and his friends needed to board a ship that was quickly retreating, to confront Rodimus and get some answers.

He was fairly anxious about getting on board, but Aqua’s determination to get to the truth and Ven’s eagerness to help made it easier for Terra to push past his nervousness. Despite everything, he still wanted to trust that Drift and Rodimus and the rest of them had a reason for being dishonest.

Only time would tell, he supposed.

* * *

The Lost Light’s takeoff went relatively smoothly, all things considered. Sure, it was nervewracking as hell to wait for the ship to pull away from the planet’s gravity, but the locals seemed to be deterred from getting on board at least.

Well, except for the three bogeys that continued to head toward the ship. Drift had admittedly been rather skeptical of them being a real problem, so he was actually surprised when they’d made it onto the ship.

Red Alert shot out of his chair just as the alarm sounded, pointing at another screen. "Sir, they’re on board!"

Rodimus rolled his optics. "Yeah, thanks. I got that." He turned to Megatron, Drift, and Magnus, arms crossed anxiously. "What should we do?"

Megatron brought up a servo to stroke thoughtfully at his chin. "You seem to believe they could potentially be dangerous, so I’d err on the side of caution. Perhaps this would be a good time to let the rest of the crew know what is going on."

"Yeah," Rodimus agreed with a nod. "That’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll do a ship-wide lockdown."

"What about us?" Ultra Magnus asked. "Shouldn’t we try to intercept them?"

Rodimus frowned, digits drumming along his arms as he considered Magnus’ plan. "Probably. But I wanna make sure the crew is safe and secure first, then we can figure out what to do next."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan to me," Drift offered.

"Great! That’s what I like to hear!" Rodimus replied, grinning over at Drift before heading over to the shipwide P.A. system.

Once the announcement was made and the ship was locked down, the bridge became eerily quiet, only the soft hum of the ship’s systems breaking the silence. Drift had spent these past few minutes quietly analyzing the situation, eventually coming to a conclusion that was equal parts logical and unrealistic.

On one hand, it seemed rational enough, that Aqua, Terra, and Ven had pursued the Lost Light out into space, but it also was a little ridiculous sounding, and Drift knew it. Either way, he wanted Rodimus to hear him out.

"We’ve successfully achieved orbit," Nautica informed everyone, drawing Drift from his pondering.

"Great. Thanks, Nautica," Drift said, patting her gently on the shoulder as he passed by her, heading to the front of the bridge.

Drift padded over to the captain’s chair, leaning over so he and Rodimus were more at eye-level. Rodimus seemed to be deep in thought, so Drift cleared his intake gently to catch his amica’s attention.

"There’s three of them, Rodimus," Drift whispered, giving him a meaningful look.

"Yeah...?" Rodimus replied just as quietly, looking absolutely clueless.

Drift sighed, shaking his head and giving Rodimus a small smile. "Who did we just spend our _entire_ vacation with?"

Rodimus’ optics widened at the suggestion, his entire frame tensing. " _No_. There’s no way!" he replied, probably a bit too loudly. "Surely it’s just a coincidence."

"Is it?" Drift asked with a raised brow.

Rodimus frowned, his optics searching Drift’s for a long moment as he considered it further. "Yeah, but... there’s... there’s no way! They were humans!" Rodimus said, but Drift could clearly see the wheels turning in his friend’s mind. "Weren’t they?"

Drift shrugged. "I sure thought so. But they can do magic and stuff, right?"

"Ah, yeah. I forgot about that," Rodimus replied, huffing out a sigh. His digits drummed impatiently on the armrests of his chair as he milled over their options. "I dunno, Drift. I know you probably want to see them again, I know I do, but --"

"It’s more than that," Drift insisted. "Hear me out, bro - who else would be angry enough to chase down a ship full of giant aliens?"

Rodimus opened his mouth to speak, but his response was cut off.

"Would you mind letting the rest of us in on this very _important_ conversation?" Megatron drawled from behind Rodimus, causing Drift to bolt upright in surprise.

"It’s uhh, nothing. Sir." Drift politely bowed his helm toward Megatron, glancing around himself nervously. It was then that he realized that, despite his best efforts, most of the bridge crew had been listening in on their conversation, and all their optics were now locked on him. "Rodimus and I were trying to determine what we should do next in regards to the organics."

"The intruders?" Megatron raised a brow, looking between Drift and Rodimus skeptically. "Well, it seems that you two are more familiar with them than anyone else," he said pointedly. "Somehow."

"Uhhh, I dunno about that," Rodimus said, raising his servos defensively and turning toward Drift. "I want to believe you, I really do, but it’s kind of a stretch."

"Well, alright, I see how it is," Drift replied, though he was hardly put off by Rodimus’ words - he knew what he was saying probably sounded crazy. "Tell ya what: I’m gonna go round them up, and then you can decide how trustworthy my gut is."

Rodimus blanched, watching him with wide, worried eyes as he headed to the door. "Drift, wait!" he cried, all but leaping out of his chair.

Drift paid him little mind as he headed out into the hallway, fighting down newfound nervousness that churned in his tanks. No one else seemed to object to his new plan so Drift quickly transformed, drowning out the indignant shouts of his best friend with the growl of his engine.

He wasted little more time as he raced down the hallway, wanting to cover as much ground as possible for the sake of his scanners. Though, the further he traveled, the more he wondered if he’d made the right decision. Drift was fairly confident in his theory, but he also wondered what might happen if he was wrong.

What if they _were_ hostile and dangerous?

Drift reminded himself that he still had time to back out of this half-baked plan, but the thought died in his processor as he quickly rounded another corner. There, just ahead were three humanoid figures, none other than the organics he was looking for. They hadn't made it too far from where they'd entered the ship, though that wasn't much of a surprise, considering how small they were.

He quickly transformed, taking great care not to step on them as he approached.

He watched with fascination as each one of them produced a weapon of some sort out of thin air. The weapons resembled oddly-shaped swords, but they were unlike anything Drift had ever seen before. And, if Drift was honest with himself, the three beings didn’t look all that organic. Either they were metal plated like a Cybertronian or they were wearing some sort of armor.

Either way, even if they were the humans that Drift was expecting, he couldn’t identify them through the faceless masks. He’d have to take a closer look.

Carefully, Drift kneeled down to analyze each of them. He was sure to move slowly, wanting to avoid being hit with the odd looking weapons if he could help it. One of the three was a little larger than the others, and their posture tensed when his optics reached them.

_Is that Terra?_ he wondered silently. The defensive stance suggested that his assumption was a reasonable one, closely resembling the way Terra had held his posture when they sparred earlier that week, though it was admittedly a fairly common fighting stance. They were also roughly of the same stature, but thanks to the metal Drift couldn’t be too sure if it was actually him.

Only one way to find out, he supposed.

* * *

Thanks to the rather vague description that Aqua had been given, Terra had only been somewhat prepared for what Cybertronians truly looked like - they were evidently "giant, metal aliens" of some sort. Neither he nor his friends had really known what to expect, the massive blue robot they'd encountered after boarding the ship taking all three of them by surprise.

And then the robot turned into a car.

Terra was admittedly still trying to absorb it all as they made their way down the hallway, new questions arising with every answer that was uncovered. More than anything, Terra couldn't help but wonder if all Cybertronians looked like the one they'd seen in the shuttle bay. Were there any distinguishing characteristics among them? Would he ever be able to actually point out the ones he'd met without their holograms?

For most of their journey through the ship, they didn't run into any more of the giant aliens, so his questions went unanswered. It wasn't until several minutes later, when the sleek white car raced around the corner and transformed that Terra realized there was at least _some_ variety among the species.

For one thing, this bot wasn't nearly as bulky as the one they'd seen in the shuttle bay. The car they turned into seemed different, as well as the paint and markings they had on their plating. And their face...

Something about that face seemed so _familiar_ to Terra - maybe it was wishful thinking on his part, but the bot reminded him a lot of Drift. Perhaps it was their eyes, that same striking shade of blue that he'd been staring into earlier that evening?

And then, the Cybertronian spoke.

"Terra?" They ventured, glancing between the trio. "Ven? Aqua? Is that who you all are?"

Terra thought his knees were going to buckle out from beneath him at the sound of that soft, soothing voice. There was no mistaking it - they were face to face with none other than Drift.

He quickly put away his keyblade, looking up toward the Cybertronian. "Yeah," Terra said, unable to fight back the smile that rose to his face. "Are you... Drift?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah! I’m Drift," the bot said with a bright, relieved grin.

Terra felt his heart thump excitedly at the sight of Drift’s smile. It didn’t seem to matter that the smile was stretched across the faceplates of an alien robot that was probably ten times his size, rather than the little human face Terra had become familiar with.

Though... Drift was a rather nice looking alien robot, Terra’s mind helpfully pointed out. Despite the obvious differences, his true form certainly reflected the hologram that Terra had become hopelessly attracted to.

He was... still very handsome. In a way.

A light flush ran across Terra’s cheeks at his own internal admission, and he was quite thankful for the helmet that covered his face. He pushed the distracting thoughts away, for now, focusing on the situation at hand instead.

Drift sighed with relief, some of the tension melting from his frame. "I’m so glad to see you all, I..." he trailed off. His smile fell a bit when he glanced back at Terra, expression clouding with guilt. "Well. I have a lot of explaining to do, don’t I? I’ll just... take you guys to the bridge. It’ll take you forever to get there if you walk."

He then gracefully stood, taking a few steps away from the trio and transforming once again. Terra found himself watching with rapt attention this time, absolutely fascinated by the way the plating shifted across itself as Drift changed back into the sleek white car from before. Drift then popped the doors open, calling the trio forward, though the tone of his voice betrayed his reluctance.

Terra hated to make Drift uncomfortable, but he knew that prolonging the inevitable would only make things worse. So, without any further hesitation, Terra made his way over and crawled inside the vehicle. It was much roomier than he was expecting, accommodating his large stature with ease.

"Come on," he encouraged his friends once he realized they hadn’t followed him. They didn’t seem to need much more convincing, ducking into the car just as carefully as Terra had.

Unsurprisingly, Ven was full of curiosity, rattling off a few questions before the doors were even closed. Drift answered them in stride, and they all turned their attention to Aqua’s soft question, regarding where they would be going next.

Drift zipped down the hallway, heading back the way he'd arrived. He calmly confirmed Aqua’s suspicion, that they would be heading to the bridge, and therefore straight to Rodimus. Terra glanced over at his friend, whose unusually wilted posture made her seem rather small, even in her imposing armor.

He and Ven both tried their best to comfort her, but it likely didn’t do much to help with all of the armor separating them.

Terra shifted awkwardly. The armor was hardly lounging attire, and while he was far more comfortable using it now than he was a mere few years ago, he found that he was quite eager to be rid of it now that they were all out of danger. He also wanted a chance to take in his surroundings, including Drift’s new... erm, _true_ form without the dark tint of his visor.

So long as he actually _could_ take it off, that is.

"Drift... is there oxygen on this ship? If we remove our armor, will we be able to breathe?" Terra asked.

"Yep, Go ahead! Make yourselves comfortable," Drift replied.

They did just that, their armor disappearing in a flash. Terra only had a brief moment to sigh in relief before he realized what he was wearing - or, to be more specific, what he _wasn’t_ wearing.

He was glad that he’d at least managed to tug on a pair of sweatpants, but Terra regretted not taking a few seconds longer to grab a shirt as well. The ship was really cold, and he wasn’t in the most... presentable state.

Terra tried to play it off, not calling any extra attention to himself, but then Ven went and pointed out a couple of the dark hickeys littered across his chest. The faint trace of pride in Drift’s halfhearted apology did little to help the situation, instead making it much more obvious what they’d been up to. 

All attempts at maintaining his composure were lost after that point, Terra’s face heating up under the surprised scrutiny of his friends. He was glad that he’d managed to make Aqua smile, but at the same time, he was kicking his past self for not planning ahead.

Luckily, it didn’t take much longer for them to reach their destination, allowing Terra a moment of reprieve from the prying eyes. Drift quickly parked, his doors unlocking and opening once more.

"We’re here!" Drift said cheerfully. Terra and his friends quickly climbed out, not wanting to drag out the bot’s discomfort any longer than was necessary. Drift transformed once again, the relief of being free of human passengers evident on his face, and he took great care to avoid stepping on anyone as he headed toward the door.

Terra wasn’t sure what would be awaiting them beyond that door, or what they would be doing next, but he hoped it didn’t involve too much socializing. His current state of dress wasn’t exactly the best for first impressions, after all.

Terra’s eyes darted up to the large white bot again, watching as Drift typed a code into the panel on the wall. His mind was still kind of reeling at everything that had happened tonight, and he realized that the only thing he wanted more than a shirt was the chance to talk things over with Drift. Alone. He still had so many questions - and some of them involved things he didn’t really want to discuss in front of others if he was honest.

The sound of the doors opening drew Terra from his thoughts, and he felt his face heat up again as several pairs of alien optics turned his way.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some baggage is unpacked in this chapter. And, spoiler: poor Terra never gets a shirt, but... it's fine. He's fine.

Terra thought he’d have some clue as to what to expect when the doors opened, having seen two Cybertronians up to this point, but he quickly found himself overwhelmed under the eyes of the bridge crew.

He swallowed hard, taking in the sight of the bots around him - most were roughly the same height as Drift, but there were a few that were even _bigger_ , much to Terra’s surprise. They were all so distinct in appearance, and if he weren’t so cold and flustered, he would’ve likely found himself wondering what the rest of the crew looked like and what they could all turn into.

As it was, though, he just wanted a chance to talk with Drift.

And a shirt. A shirt would definitely be nice.

Luckily, most of the bridge crew spared little more than a curious glance before turning back to their workstations. A purple and gold bot quickly stood out of their chair, catching Ven’s attention as they chattered excitedly at him. Terra was then quickly distracted from the two when a giant blue bot rushed toward the door with a bright red face, seemingly overwhelmed with the trio’s arrival. A red and orange bot heading toward Aqua stole Terra’s attention next - that _had_ to be Rodimus if the flamboyant colors and the concerned expression were anything to go by.

A massive grey bot glanced between the three humans, looking unamused at best, and Terra crossed his arms over his chest self-consciously. He felt particularly cold and naked and tiny under that bot’s gaze and was more than ready to be _off_ of the bridge.

Terra startled when someone cleared their throat behind him, and he looked up to see Drift bent at the waist, watching him carefully. He didn’t know how he’d managed to be surprised by the bot, considering his size, but Terra supposed he was so caught up in everything that was happening that he just hadn’t noticed.

"Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you," Drift said with an apologetic smile. He kneeled down on the floor in front of Terra, obscuring him from most of the other Cybertronians and giving them some semblance of privacy. "You alright?"

Terra shrugged a shoulder, his eyes darting around the room. "I’m fine," he said, though he figured his discomfort was probably glaringly obvious. "Just, umm... a little overwhelmed. And cold."

"Well, if you'd like to leave, I can take you anywhere you wanna go," Drift said, laying his servos flat on the floor. "I actually wanted to talk to you, but... if you’d rather not that’s fine, too. I understand."

Terra climbed onto one of the offered palms eagerly, which wasn’t cold at all like he was expecting. "Is there somewhere we can be alone? We do have a lot to discuss, but I’d rather not do that here."

Drift nodded, cupping his hands closer together before carefully standing up. He drew Terra close to his chassis, which was even warmer than his palms were, and Terra eagerly curled up against the toasty metal.

"Yeah, of course. Would my room be okay? Not for any particular, uhh... _reasons_ , but because it’s quiet and empty?"

Terra smiled, touched by Drift’s concern. "That’s totally fine," he said, patting Drift’s palm encouragingly. "Unless you have a roommate or something?"

"Nah, just me in there! One of the many perks of being a commanding officer is a room for one," Drift said as he headed out into the hallway.

They walked in silence for a moment, and Terra quietly peered up at Drift from where he was being carefully cradled. He was surprised to find the bot watching him, brows pinched with concern.

"Here," Drift said, removing one of his hands from around Terra to pull a Cybertronian-sized washcloth from... well, Terra had no idea where he’d pulled it from. Some sort of magical pocket, perhaps? "This isn’t the softest thing, but I hope it helps you warm up a little bit."

Terra took it gratefully, wrapping it around his shivering shoulders. It was pretty scratchy against his skin, but he found it to be highly preferable to the harsh chill of the ship.

"Really should have put on a shirt," he mumbled, curling up against Drift’s chest again. Drift didn’t seem to mind at all, allowing him to leech as much warmth as he wanted.

It didn’t take too much longer for them to reach Drift’s room, thankfully. Once the doors were closed and locked behind them, Drift unfurled his hands again, and Terra took a moment to look at the space around them.

Drift’s room was nearly empty, the only real furniture being a large metal slab - was that a bed of some sort? - and a meditation mat on the floor. There didn’t seem to be any real decor, though there was a small window near the bed, giving a decent view of the stars they passed by. The lighting was dimmer than it was out in the hallway, and Terra noticed a door off to the side; it was closed though, so he had no idea what could be in there.

"Umm... well, I guess it’s pretty obvious I don’t have a lot of company over," Drift said with an awkward chuckle. "I usually hang out in Rodimus’ room. He’s got all sorts of cool stuff."

Terra shook his head, giving a small shrug. "It’s nice. Very neat. My room at home is honestly pretty similar," he said. Though, his own room was empty mostly due to the fact that he hadn’t had much time to personalize it just yet, as it was still fairly new to him and he traveled around more often than not. Still, he had no room to judge - what a Cybertronian considered comfortable and homey was likely very different from what a human would.

"Yeah, I don’t have a whole lot of stuff to put in here. Makes it easier to keep clean though," Drift said with a little smile.

One of Drift’s hands reached to remove the large sword that was strapped to his back, which he hung carefully on a hook by the bed. He then sat on the smooth metal slab, glancing down at Terra with an almost nervous expression.

"So... Giant alien robots, huh?" Terra asked after a beat of silence, giving Drift a polite smile.

"Yeah..." Drift’s optics darted away for a long moment before they found Terra again. He took some time to find his words, and when he spoke again, his voice was soft and careful.

"Terra, look... I’m sorry. For not being upfront with you from the beginning, and for leaving you behind when you were so vulnerable and trusting. I thought I had more time to ease you into the whole... giant alien robot thing. But my intentions, unfortunately, won’t change what happened. I can only promise to be honest with you from this point forward."

Drift swallowed hard, moving one hand so that he could stroke carefully along Terra’s back with a single digit. It was a little strange at first, having such a large finger rubbing his back like that, but Terra still found himself leaning into the gentle touch.

He sighed, mulling over Drift’s words for a few minutes. He eventually found himself nodding, and he looked up at the bot’s bright blue optics with a small smile. "I think I understand, at least somewhat," he finally said. "I’m still a little confused as to why there was a huge mob coming after you guys, but there was no question you were in danger. I appreciate the apology and the fact that you planned to tell me eventually."

A more comfortable silence fell over the two of them then, and Terra allowed himself to actually _look_ at Drift. Despite the obvious differences, his robotic frame was similar enough to the Drift that Terra had come to know - his face looked pretty much the same, his optics were that same lovely shade of blue, and the general structure of his frame was just as appealing to look at.

As his eyes traced over the glossy plating of Drift’s frame, Terra took a moment to think back on what they’d been doing before the bots had been forced to evacuate from the planet. Clearly, they wouldn’t be able to do much together with Drift at this size - not in the traditional sense, anyway.

And, now that he knew the truth, that the Drift he had been interacting with before was merely a hologram, there was something that had been bothering Terra. He shifted uncomfortably in Drift’s palms, tugging the washcloth closer to his body as his mind wandered to memories that he’d rather ignore.

"Uhh, so, your hologram. It’s not your... real body," Terra began softly, not quite meeting Drift’s eyes. "Does it feel weird to use it? Was what any of what we did actually... fun?"

Drift frowned, his head tilting in a manner that would have been adorable if not for the anxiety suddenly eating at Terra. "I mean... well, it’s certainly _different_ from being like this, but not bad, or unpleasant," he said with a shrug. "I enjoyed myself. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat, if you were... interested."

"Different..." Terra repeated, his frown deepening despite Drift’s words.

"Yeah. Not better or worse, really - just different. Humans are generally more sensitive to touch than Cybertronians, because you guys have skin instead of metal plating, for example. My holoform’s coding reflects that, but I don’t mind it or anything," Drift explained. "Why do you ask?"

Terra shrugged. "I just... if we were to do anything like that again, I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t... bad? For you? Since it’s not the body you typically use."

He reached up to scratch the side of his head, attempting to gather his thoughts, and Drift waited patiently. "I want you to have a nice time, but I don’t really see how we’d be able to do anything like this. You’re just so..." Terra floundered to find the right word, before settling on " _big_ " with a bright red face.

Drift raised a brow at him, a small smile forming at the corner of his lips. "Oh, trust me, I can get creative if you’re interested. I am fully functional, after all," he teased. "But if you’d prefer to spend time with my holoform, I wouldn’t mind at all. In fact, I’d be _more_ than happy to use it!"

"You’re sure?" Terra found himself asking, still somewhat skeptical despite everything Drift was telling him.

"Absolutely! Here, hold on a sec," he said, standing up off of the berth and walking across the room with Terra in hand.

He placed Terra on the meditation mat and motioned for him to wait there with a single raised digit. He waited for Terra to nod before heading into the adjacent room, shutting the door behind him.

Terra frowned. He wasn’t sure where this was going, but he willed himself to be patient and allow Drift some time to do... whatever he was doing.

* * *

It only took a moment for Drift to settle comfortably on the bench in his washracks, and then he activated his holoform. It fizzled into existence a few yards away from where he had left Terra, causing him to jump in surprise.

Drift walked over to where Terra was seated, settling on the floor in front of him. He reached forward to gently cup Terra’s face in his hands, moving slowly in case Terra wanted to back away. Luckily, Terra didn’t seem to mind, a soft flush rising to his cheeks as he leaned into the touch.

He regarded Terra with a warm smile, running his thumbs over those warming cheekbones. "Does this answer your question?" he asked softly.

Terra swallowed, giving a jerky nod of his head. "Yeah, kind of. I just want to make sure you’re... comfortable."

Drift released Terra’s cheeks, putting his hands in his lap instead. "I’m just fine like this," he said with a shrug. "Though I have to say - it is pretty chilly in here..."

With a soft laugh, Terra lifted the corner of the washcloth. "C’mere," he said, nodding toward the empty spot at his side, "this thing is scratchy, but otherwise not too bad."

Drift complied eagerly, crawling into the offered space. He intended to keep his hands to himself and give Terra as much space as he wanted, but that plan fell apart as soon as Terra wrapped an arm around his shoulders to draw him closer. A soft kiss was placed on the crown of his head, and Terra sighed happily as he pressed his nose into Drift’s hair.

It was Drift’s turn to blush at the affectionate gesture, honestly not expecting Terra to be okay with this again any time soon. Still, he enjoyed the closeness and allowed his arms to wrap around Terra in return, cozying up against his side.

Though... after the line of questioning from earlier, a stray thought wiggled into Drift’s mind. He still wasn’t entirely sure what Terra had been trying to get at, but he could clearly read the discomfort in his voice and body language. Something didn’t feel quite right, even with how close Terra had allowed Drift to be at this very moment.

"Terra," Drift began softly, pulling away a bit so their eyes could meet. "Are _you_ comfortable? With me like this?"

Terra’s eyes darted away, a small frown forming on his face as he thought it over. "Yeah! This just... isn’t really your body, you know?" he said eventually. "I’m perfectly happy with this if you are, it’s just..."

His brows furrowed and he was silent for a long moment. When Terra spoke again, his voice was barely audible, and Drift had to really strain to hear it. "Out-of-body experiences aren’t particularly great. From my experience anyway."

Drift’s eyes widened, his mind scrambling to figure out what exactly _that_ could mean. Paired with Terra’s obvious discomfort, it could be anything from some sort of severe dissociation to possession - neither of which sounded particularly pleasant.

"From... what? Your experience?" Drift found himself saying, trying to sort through his thoughts more than pry. His heart sank at the way Terra flinched, and he worked quickly to backtrack from the touchy subject.

"Erm... sorry. That’s really none of my business. You don’t have to answer," he assured Terra with an apologetic look. "We can talk about something else."

Terra’s sighed quietly. "No, it’s... fine. It’s something I’d want to tell you about eventually."

"Well, alright. It’s up to you," Drift said. He scooted back, returning his arms to his sides a little to give Terra some space.

Terra nodded, swallowing hard. "A little while back, one of my master’s old friends began to... manipulate my friends and me," he began softly. "We fought against him as best as we could, but we realized too late we were being used and all suffered because of it.

"The master, his body was... old. And he needed a new vessel to enact his plans, so he used... me. When that happened my consciousness was... split, I guess? Part of me, most of me, was suppressed in my own body, while another lingered behind in my armor." His brow furrowed as he stared down at his hands, which were now tightly clenched into fists. "My memory of that time is fuzzy because of the split, but I remember the feeling of everything just being... wrong."

Drift fought to keep the horrified look off of his face, but it became a losing battle as Terra’s explanation went on. He reached forward to grasp Terra’s hands, massaging them gently until his fingers loosened and relaxed some.

"That’s... Terra, I’m so sorry, that’s..." he trailed off, not knowing what kind of word could even fit for such a situation. Anger and frustration bubbled up in his chest, but he quickly tamped the sensation down, not wanting to overshadow Terra’s feelings on the experience. "Is he... you know, still around? I’d be more than happy to lend a hand --"

"Ah, no," Terra cut him off gently, shaking his head and giving a quiet laugh. "He’s been taken care of, don’t you worry. He’s no longer anyone’s concern."

He squeezed Drift’s hands reassuringly, giving another soft sigh. "I’m... okay now. Or working toward okay, at least. All of us are," Terra said. "My friends and I all suffered because of what that man did, but we’re slowly recovering from what happened. This vacation was a small step in that long process."

Drift nodded in understanding - Rodimus had chosen to take shore leave on that planet for a similar reason. The whole crew really deserved the chance to unwind after all they'd been through. "Ah, yeah... Sorry we tore you away from that so early," he said, giving Terra a sheepish look.

Terra quickly shook his head. "Don’t worry about that. Ven got to make new friends, Aqua met Rodimus, and of course, I got to meet _you_ ," he said with a fond smile, reaching up to cup Drift’s cheek. "I’d say it was quite the success."

Drift felt his face growing hot under Terra’s palm at the sudden attention. "Oh, umm, well... Thank you. I’d easily say the same for my vacation," he said shyly, his eyes darting away from Terra’s. "Just... wish some things had gone a little more smoothly. Especially tonight."

Terra’s grin grew wider, and he pulled Drift close, tucking his nose against the top of Drift’s head. "It’s alright. You guys were in danger, and couldn’t help what had happened. Although... I have to admit, I’m pretty confused as to why the people on that world hated you guys so much. They seemed so... friendly," he said, pressing another soft kiss against Drift’s head before pulling back again to meet his eyes.

He winced when he saw the discomfort that had made its way onto Drift’s face, reaching to grasp Drift’s hands again. "Sorry. I... hope that’s not insensitive for me to ask about. If it is, forget I said anything."

Drift shook his head. "No, you’re fine. It’s not insensitive, just... kind of complicated," he admitted, eyes darting down between them as he considered his response. Honestly, he had no idea how in-depth he should even go for such an answer, especially since it all began such an unfathomably long time ago from a human’s perspective. Terra didn’t rush him, remaining quiet as he rubbed soothing circles against Drift’s palms.

"Long story short, my kind is not known for being particularly kind toward organics. Or, well, some of my kind, anyway?" Drift shook his head, giving a nervous laugh. "We just recently wrapped up a civil war that dragged out for a few million years. One side was lead by Megatron, the big silver bot you probably saw on the bridge. Many planets were wiped out during the war, and by extension, many species were eradicated entirely - particularly organic ones.

"That planet - the one we just left - banned us from ever setting foot on it due to fear. As you may have noticed when you arrived, it’s one of the few inhabited planets left in this sector. I feel like they survived this long because of Megatron’s interest in conquering the neighboring star system rather than their political actions, but I don’t blame them for making an attempt to keep us away. Or for hating us. What we did was... absolutely atrocious."

Drift sat quietly for a long moment, wondering if he should continue. What he wanted to say next wasn’t really relevant to Terra’s question, but he knew he’d have to bring it up someday - the last thing he wanted after all of this was to be dishonest with Terra, or to avoid telling him something important.

"Megatron has since switched sides and was the one who finally called the end to the war. But like the rest of us, he’s had a lot of time to do many terrible things, and many people will never forgive him, or us as a species," Drift said. 

He heaved a deep sigh, pushing onward. "In the early days of the war, I was in a really dark place. I... I had nothing. Megatron offered me a way out, hand picked me out of a crowd to join him. Though... I saw the wrong in his plight fairly early on. I defected, and I’ve been making up for the things I’ve done ever since."

Drift shrugged a shoulder, honestly a little afraid to meet Terra’s eyes. "Anyway. That’s why they chased us off the planet. A crewmember blew our cover and we had to get the hell out of there before we were disassembled. And... that’s why I was so hesitant to disclose my full identity to you."

A rather extended pause stretched between them. It was then that Drift realized he might have revealed a little too much. He patiently waited for Terra to decide that he’d heard enough and had changed his mind about everything. It would be totally understandable, and Drift wouldn’t judge him one bit.

But, it never came - instead, Terra remained seated, massaging his hands soothingly. Drift’s eyes finally lifted to see Terra gazing at him thoughtfully, though he remained quiet as they looked at each other, and Drift’s stomach twisted anxiously.

"I’m sorry," Drift blurted out, unable to bear the quiet any longer. "That was probably a lot to drop on you at once. I guess I should have mentioned earlier that I’m super old, and used to, uh... do really bad things."

Terra shook his head, giving Drift a small smile. "You’re not the only one hiding their age. I’m older than I look - all three of us are. Granted, over a decade isn’t nearly as grand as millions of years but," he shrugged, "it’s still something."

He gave Drift’s hands a firm squeeze, his expression softening a bit. "It’s a... bit of a shock, I won’t lie. I’m not sure I’ve absorbed it all. But... everything was kind of blown out of the water when you turned out to be a giant robot alien. Adding the fact that you live a long time and fought in a civil war doesn’t seem too out of the question."

Drift shook his head in disbelief, not understanding how Terra could still be sitting here after all he’d heard today, but he didn’t question it. He’d made it clear from the start that Terra was free to leave at any time if he so desired, and it was up to him to make such a decision.

"Well, if you say so... But, luckily, that’s about all the secrets I have," Drift said, extracting his hands from Terra’s to list off the various things he’d revealed about himself, holding up a finger for each absurdity. "I’m a giant, ancient alien robot, with a questionable past, that can turn into a car. Aside from that, I’m just your average dude."

Terra watched him wiggle his fingers, his smile growing wider. "I dunno. Nothing about you is average to me, except maybe your height," he teased lightly.

His expression grew serious then, and he reached forward to cup Drift’s cheeks once again. "But... I want you to know, I do appreciate the honesty, Drift."

Drift nodded, his own smile falling away. "Likewise," he said, moving to cover Terra’s hands with his own. "It means... a lot that you trust me at all. Especially after everything that just happened."

"Of course," Terra replied almost instantly. "Maybe it’s foolish, to trust you after such a short amount of time, but... I just can’t help it." He freed one of his hands from Drift’s cheek to rest it over the center of his own chest. "My heart trusts you completely. And I’ve learned over the years that when it speaks this strongly about something, it’s in my best interest to listen to it."

Drift swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat, his own heart stuttering at the confession. "I appreciate that - it certainly goes both ways. I... like you, a lot. And I want this to work out," he said softly. "So... Let me know if there’s anything else you want or need to know, okay? No more secrets."

Terra grinned widely at him, giving a single nod. "Will do. I can’t think of anything else off the top of my head, though," he said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Do you have any more questions for me?"

Drift considered his response for a long moment, eventually perking up as a thought wiggled into his mind. "I actually do!" he said with a smile. "It’s nothing urgent, more of my own curiosity than anything, but... that weapon you and your friends wield. What the heck is it?"

With a surprised laugh, Terra nodded. He crawled out of their blanket cocoon, much to Drift’s dismay, taking a few steps away. Drift’s disappointment was quickly replaced by wide-eyed curiosity as the weapon appeared out of thin air, right into Terra’s grasp - just as it had when Drift initially saw it.

"It’s called a keyblade," he answered, returning to kneel by Drift’s side, the weapon held carefully in his hands. "It’s a weapon born from our hearts. It’s designed in the image of an ancient one that controlled the lock to something called Kingdom Hearts. It’s magic based, and the keychain at the end determines its appearance along with its abilities."

Terra gave a thoughtful hum before continuing. "Skilled keyblade masters are able to transform their keyblade into other weapons or, in our case, a glider. A keyblade is also capable of unlocking any lock," he said, turning it over in his hands.

Drift stared at the weapon for a long moment, fascinated by its strange, intricate design. He knew his love for cool swords was a little over the top, but he didn’t let this realization stop him from giving the weapon the attention it deserved. He also was certain to ogle Terra, who handled the keyblade with such natural ease, as though it weighed nothing.

He barely fought off a swoon, clearing his throat and tamping down as much of his excitement as he could, though the wide grin on his face probably gave him away. "It’s... _really_ awesome. I’ve seen my fair share of cool swords, but never anything like this!"

Terra held it out in a silent offer to let him hold it, but Drift snorted and shook his head. "Ah, no thanks. That’s sweet of you, Terra, but... I can’t hold that. It’s almost as big as I am!"

This brought forth a surprised laugh from Terra, who quirked an eyebrow at him. "Well, alright. It really isn’t _that_ heavy, though," he said, but he didn’t push it, putting the weapon away in a flash of light instead.

"Yeah, well, you’re a little stronger than I am," Drift reminded him, patting him affectionately on the arm. "Anyway. That is an awesome weapon. I hadn’t realized that magic was involved with it. I doubt I could beat you in a fight with that - not that I, umm, would want to fight you or anything."

Terra shrugged a shoulder, returning to his spot beneath their makeshift blanket. "Well, I’ve fought creatures as big as your natural form, so I could probably give you a run for your munny. But it’d be a bit of a tough fight for me," he admitted. "Ven would probably give you a much better challenge, but Aqua’s the one you should really watch out for. She’s one of the best magic users I’ve ever seen, and has had a lot more experience fighting larger opponents."

He wrapped an arm around Drift’s shoulders to pull him close once again, much to Drift’s delight. "But, thankfully, we have no reason to give that a try."

Drift hummed in agreement, wrapping his arms around Terra’s middle and making himself comfortable. "Yeah, I don’t want anyone to actually get hurt. I think if I’m gonna tussle with you, I’ll stick to a hand-to-hand spar. It’d be the fairest," he remarked, tucking his head into the crook of Terra’s neck. "And the most fun."

His mind wandered back to their last and, so far, only spar, recalling just _how_ fun it was. Between him getting used to moving around in his holoform and learning how Terra fought, it was honestly a great challenge. And Terra was a pretty good sparring partner, considering that Drift had only beaten him by a hair. He wouldn’t mind trying it again sometime.

And, well... What happened afterward was actually way better than the win itself, if Drift was honest. _Yeah, we definitely have to do that again_ , he thought with a grin.

"I... have to agree," Terra said, his voice a little thicker than it had been a moment ago. He squirmed a little bit in Drift’s arms, clearing his throat. "It definitely has its, um, advantages."

Drift perked up at the reaction, and he wondered if Terra’s mind had wandered in the same direction as his own. "Oh, yes," he agreed with a low voice. "There’s just something very _satisfying_ about being able to wrangle your opponent to the ground with your bare hands, isn’t there?"

He pulled his head back, noting Terra’s bright flush and wide eyes, and it took all of his willpower to keep his own expression innocent.

His hands gently mapped along Terra’s back, the touch light and rather tame, though the way he huddled against Terra’s side so he could murmur softly in his ear might have given his true intentions away.

"Sure, it takes a few minutes to warm up, but once you get your rhythm going, it becomes a lot more fun, y’know? Momentum is the most important thing. You also have to be careful to pace yourself and plan each move wisely, or you’ll tire out too quickly. The last thing you want to do is drain all your energy before the fight is over, after all," Drift purred, smiling sweetly at Terra.

Terra’s face had grown redder and redder by the second, his lips twisting into an unamused pout when their eyes met.

"You’re doing this on purpose," Terra grumbled, poking Drift’s side. "Just because I’m inexperienced doesn’t mean I don’t see what you’re doing."

Drift tilted his head, his brows furrowing in confusion. "What? What am I doing?" he asked, feigning innocence as best as he could. It was a bit difficult with how flustered Terra was getting, but Drift did his best to persevere.

Terra’s eyes narrowed, clearly not buying the act. "You’re teasing me," he said matter-of-factly.

Before Drift could play along any more, a pair of muscular arms wrapped around him, hoisting him off of the floor and placing him squarely onto Terra’s lap.

He definitely did _not_ let out a surprised squeak at the sudden movement. That must have been someone else.

Terra gently grasped his jaw, bringing their faces close. Close enough that their lips almost touched, though he didn’t move any further, waiting for Drift to take the next step.

Drift smiled, his heart beating erratically in his chest. "You know, you should pick me up more often, big guy," he said, his lips brushing against Terra’s as he spoke. "I kinda dig it."

He then leaned forward for a real kiss, keeping it soft and gentle as his fingers roamed across Terra’s chest. His heart sped up excitedly when Terra’s hands gripped his waist, holding him steady on his lap.

Drift wasn't exactly sure where the night would take them, and honestly, he didn't really care. He was just happy that they'd gotten to talk things over, and now had a chance to do whatever they wished, _without_ any interruptions this time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, well, I hope you like fluff, because uhh. This whole chapter is just an excuse for fluff and I'm not sorry. Also, thanks for reading!

It had been several days since Terra, Aqua, and Ventus were seen off, and Drift had been worried sick about them since the doors to the shuttle bay closed. His worry only grew as the days stretched into a week without a word from any of them.

What if something awful had happened to them?

Logically, he knew that they were probably fine - their home planet was pretty far away, and they could only travel so fast on their gliders, and they were _more_ than capable of keeping themselves safe.

But, even all of that logic didn’t make the sense of worry go away. If anything, he started to doubt the rational thoughts, to the point where he could think of little else. He knew it was foolish to fret over it - being so worked up wouldn’t make them get home any faster - but he couldn’t stop himself. It didn’t help that he constantly saw Rodimus walking around without his usual shine, clearly just as upset about not hearing from Aqua.

So, by the third day, he decided to distract himself. If he didn’t hear from them by the end of the week, he’d reach out to Terra, but until then, he’d try to just let things play out.

At first, Drift tried getting ahead with paperwork. It worked pretty well... until he ran out of forms to fill out at the end of the day. Rodimus had been keeping himself busy too and had completed most of the assignments that needed to be done before Drift could get to them, much to Magnus’ delight.

Next, he tried meditation. It helped for a day or two, but it didn’t take much for the worrisome thoughts to return, completely disrupting his calm mind and rendering the activity useless. 

For the past few days, Drift had been training. He wasn’t training _for_ anything in particular, but physically working himself to the point of exhaustion seemed to help him recharge a little more easily at least. Unfortunately, he found himself slacking a bit as his mind wandered to the places he’d been trying to avoid, so today he’d enlisted the help of Cyclonus.

Drift had asked the jet to hand his aft to him, and quite frankly, he was starting to regret it. Cyclonus never would have gone easy on him to start with, so asking him to amp up the challenge probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do. But, it kept his mind off of Terra’s safety and whereabouts, which was all he’d wanted.

It was working. For now, at least.

-

Terra sighed in relief as he, Aqua, and Ven landed in front of their modest home in Radiant Garden. At long last, the grueling journey was over.

The trip back hadn’t been nearly as brutal as the trip out, as the route was more familiar the second time, and they could more easily navigate between the two worlds. Just because they were able to shave off some time didn’t mean it had been a walk through the park, though - by the time they made it home, they were all exhausted and eager to turn in for the day. 

The fact that it was about noon on Radiant Garden did not diminish this desire one bit.

They all deactivated their armor and headed inside, pleased to note that everything looked about the same. They each bid their goodnights and clambered off to their rooms, ready to get some much-deserved rest. They’d made several pit stops on the way home, but nothing could ever replace the familiar comfort of sleeping in one’s own bed.

As Terra all but collapsed on his bed, he wondered why they decided to vacation on a world so far away, especially since the trip there and back wore them out so much. But... if they hadn’t had decided to go, they likely wouldn’t have met the crew of the Lost Light, so he supposed he couldn’t complain.

"Speaking of which," he murmured as he dug his phone out of his pocket. While he was sure Drift wouldn’t have minded waiting to talk until tomorrow, Terra found himself rather... eager to talk to the bot again.

His heart, which had been so heavy since their goodbye, fluttered at the prospect of hearing Drift’s voice. With a small smile, Terra found Drift’s contact and started the call.

Terra swallowed hard as he waited for Drift to pick up, suddenly nervous about the upcoming conversation. He wasn’t particularly fond of speaking over the phone, but they had little other choice if they wanted to keep in contact. He’d happily put up with it to stay in touch with Drift.

Drift’s soft, breathless " _Hello?_ " made Terra’s heart leap into his throat. He blinked a few times at the sound of Drift’s voice, wondering briefly if he should have waited to call. He couldn’t really change things now - he’d just have to roll with it.

"Drift, hi! It’s uh, Terra," Terra said, wincing at the awkward greeting. He’d really need to work on his phone skills if they were going to make this work.

"I said I’d check in once I got home," he continued, pushing his discomfort aside. "How are you? Did I call at a bad time?"

_"No, you’re fine! I was just training with someone and, well... it was time for a break,_ " Drift replied with a soft laugh. " _How have you been? Was your trip okay?_ "

Listening to Drift’s voice calmed his nerves some, and Terra was glad to feel some of his initial embarrassment fade away. Drift sounded... _happy_ to hear from him, and Terra’s heart twisted at the thought.

"The trip was fine," Terra answered with a small shrug, even though Drift couldn’t see it. "Long, boring, but the view was nice. I’m pretty excited to stick to one world for at least a little while, though. How have things been with you?"

" _Yeah, you three traveled pretty far. I’d imagine you’ll all want to stay put for a little while,_ " Drift said, giving a thoughtful hum. " _I’ve been... okay. We haven’t reached the next part of the quest yet, so I’ve just been keeping busy when I can._ "

There was a soft sigh before Drift spoke again. " _I was... kind of worried about you._ "

Terra blinked, a little surprised by the admission.

"You were... worried about me?" he found himself asking, and he cleared his throat loudly at the almost wonderstruck tone in his voice. His cheeks warmed a bit, and he was suddenly glad that Drift couldn’t see him.

Drift chuckled quietly. " _Yeah, I’m... a bit of a worrywart. I can’t really help it,_ " he said. " _Clearly it was unnecessary, seeing as you’re totally fine. But I’m glad you and your friends made it home safely._ "

Terra smiled, touched by Drift’s concern. "I, well... I’m sorry to have made you worry. And I’m just as glad to be home, honestly. It’s nice."

There was a brief pause as they each gathered their thoughts. "I do kind of miss seeing you, though. We should... probably look into video chats. If you want to," Terra said after a moment. Even if it meant Drift could watch him get flustered in real time, Terra could admit that without eye contact, the conversation was lacking a little bit.

" _I... miss seeing you too,_ " Drift said, his voice softer than before. " _Well. I mean, I miss you in general. The Lost Light is quite chilly without you around._ "

Terra’s flush returned at Drift’s words, and he floundered for a moment to try and get a hold of himself as Drift continued.

" _But, anyway, I wouldn’t mind doing video calls. I have near-perfect memory recall, but remembering your smile isn’t quite the same as seeing it._ "

"I, Well, thank you," Terra said, smiling despite the blush on his cheeks growing even warmer. "I doubt it compares much to your smile, though - yours lights up an entire room."

Drift mumbled something, and Terra briefly wondered if he’d managed to fluster the bot. He hoped so, but there was no way he’d really be able to tell.

Before he could tease Drift further, a low yawn tore its way out him - he was already tired, and Drift’s voice was very calm and soothing to listen to. Though... he’d quickly grown accustomed to sleeping with Drift’s holoform curled next to him, and hearing his voice again made Terra acutely aware of how empty his bed was.

" _I’m not keeping you awake, am I?_ " Drift asked, and Terra could practically hear the worried frown on his face.

Terra shook his head, both as an answer to Drift’s question and to wake himself up a little bit. "No, not really," he answered, struggling to fight down another yawn. Luckily, that one came out as a sigh instead. "I mean, I’m tired - exhausted, really - but I chose to call you. You’re not keeping me from anything."

Drift snorted. " _We can talk more after you rest, y’know. As much and as often as you want,_ " he reminded Terra quietly. " _You wouldn’t be bothering me in the slightest._ "

Terra’s eyes had slipped shut at some point, and it took him a little longer to open them again than he'd like to admit. As much as he wanted to keep talking, he knew Drift was right - sleep was probably the best idea for now.

"Alright, alright - you win. I’ll get some sleep and then I’ll call you tomorrow," he relented, rubbing his eyes and sitting up a bit. "Have fun with the rest of your training."

" _Okay,_ " Drift said warmly. " _Hope you sleep well, big guy. Goodnight._ "

Terra couldn’t fight the wobbly smile that made its way onto his face. If it weren’t for the distance, he’d probably get a soft kiss to the forehead to go along with the quiet words. He tried not to dwell on how much he missed the close contact, though, as that’d only make their time apart worse.

They’d make this work.

"Goodnight," he murmured. He hung up the phone and slid it onto his dresser, curling back into the blankets with a soft smile, finally allowing his eyes to close again.

* * *

Terra huffed as he pulled out his phone for what felt like the thousandth time in the past few days. On some level he knew that he was just being paranoid, that Drift didn’t always have to respond to him so quickly, but it was just so _unlike_ him.

Usually, if one of them called and the other wasn’t able to pick up, they’d send a text within a few minutes to confirm that they were busy and then call back as soon as they were able. The only exception was if one of them was asleep, though that only took a few hours at most. 

But it had been a few _days_ , and Terra had heard nothing from his boyfriend within that time. He’d sent a text yesterday asking if Drift was alright, and hadn’t even gotten a response to that.

Terra was... worried, to say the least.

"Rodimus said he was on a mission," Aqua had explained after two days of radio silence, hand on his shoulder as she attempted to comfort him. 

He appreciated the thought behind her words, but the information only made his worries grow. Sure, it definitely explained why Drift hadn’t been able to contact him, but it also gave Terra’s mind the fuel it needed to imagine scenarios for things that could’ve gone wrong, each one worse than the next.

"He’s a tough guy," Ventus reassured him not too long afterward when he caught Terra glancing at his phone again. "Swerve says that Drift has seen his fair share of fights and can than take care of himself. I’m sure he’s fine!" 

This was true - you don’t exactly go through millions of years of war without learning how to defend yourself. Terra knew this, deep down, but he also knew that it only took _one_ mistake to bring down even the most seasoned of warriors.

The rest of his friends seemed more or less over his fretting, which was fair. Even now, as he stared at his phone’s blank, notification-free screen, he could practically feel Lea rolling his eyes, hear the hushed whispers shared between Ven, Roxas, and Sora.

Terra closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down with a deep breath before pocketing his phone. He was with friends, they were going to relax and watch movies. Drift was probably okay and would get in contact with him soon. It was fine.

_It was fine._

-

Drift was _exhausted_.

It was supposed to be a simple mission. An errand, even. They were to locate the source of the distress signal they’d encountered, determine the problem, and then try to solve the problem. It should have taken a day or two at most, and then they’d be back on the Lost Light and moving on with their lives.

Unfortunately, none of the away team had expected a Decepticon ambush. How could they? Blaster had determined that the distress signal was genuine, and they approached the situation with what they thought was the appropriate amount of caution.

Long story short, the five of them had gotten stranded and pretty badly damaged in the end, but they all made it back on board alive at least.

Drift and the rest of the away team were currently being dragged to the medibay, most of them luckily able to head there on their own two pedes. Rodimus met them halfway, quickly getting a verbal report on the mission from Drift as they walked.

Once they reached the medibay, Rodimus took in the shape of Drift’s frame with a wince, watching him struggle to lie down comfortably. "Your boyfriend’s been worried sick about you. Looking at you now, I don’t blame him," Rodimus said, patting Drift awkwardly on the arm - well, the arm that was still attached to his body.

Drift felt his spark freeze with worry and guilt at Rodimus’ words. How long had he been on the planet’s surface? How much had he missed?

It was a bit of a challenge to pull his comm unit out of his subspace, what with only one semi-functioning arm, but he managed. He saw a handful of missed calls and messages from Terra, one of them reading " _are you okay?_ ", and he felt his vents catch as he scanned the words.

"Well, shit," he muttered, balancing his comm unit on his lap as he tried to type out a message in response. It didn’t go over very well, considering he was using his non-dominant servo that wasn’t responding quite right, but he managed to type out " _hey, i’m fine_ ".

His thumb slipped, sending the message prematurely, and he huffed with frustration. If only Rodimus had stuck around for _one_ more second --

He didn’t have much longer to fret, though. Terra had apparently read the message, as the screen lit up with the request for a video chat within a few seconds.

Well... this was going to be awkward.

With a sigh, Drift held up his comm unit as close to his face as he could with his limited mobility, hoping that he’d cropped out the worst of the damage. Once he was satisfied, he accepted the call.

"Uhh, hey," he said lamely, giving Terra a sheepish look. He opened his mouth to say something else, but the look of worry on Terra’s face that quickly morphed into horror stopped Drift in his tracks.

Terra’s mouth fell open, face paling as his eyes scanned what he could see through the screen. Drift could only imagine what he looked like right now: he could feel a handful of dents littered across his helm, his faceplates itched from various scrapes and patches of flaking paint, and there was no mistaking the agony of his bent finial.

The damage didn’t end there, and Drift felt bad about keeping the rest from Terra, but... he didn’t want to throw him into a deeper panic.

"What the hell _happened_?" Terra cried.

The sharp, worried tone of his voice made Drift’s frown deepen. Seeing Terra so distressed, so visibly upset hurt him more than any physical wound ever could. He reached forward to hold up a reassuring servo - or, well, he would have, if his other arm was actually attached to his body.

"I just got in a little fight," Drift said quietly.

Terra shot him a skeptical look at the exact same time that First Aid scoffed from the foot of his berth, where he was looking at one of Drift’s legs. Drift sighed, trying to figure out the easiest way to sum up the events. "We were ambushed. And outnumbered. And then stranded on the surface. But... we all made it out alright," he explained. "I... know what you’re seeing looks bad, but it doesn’t hurt."

Terra didn’t look convinced, especially when First Aid popped out a particularly bad dent on Drift’s armor, making him cringe. "Alright... it hurts pretty bad. But the medics will fix me right up, and I’ll be good as new by the end of the week!"

"That... doesn’t look like it’ll heal in a week," Terra said, closing his eyes and taking a steadying breath before meeting Drift’s eyes again. "But I’m glad you’re... relatively okay, I guess. Sorry you got so badly hurt though..."

Drift shook his head. "No, I should be the one apologizing. To go for days without contact, only to respond in such a state... I can’t imagine the stress I must have put you through," he said with a frown. "I’m sorry, Terra. I hope you can believe me when I say I won’t let it happen again."

He took a moment to gather his thoughts, deciding to provide some sort of explanation in hopes that it’d alleviate some of Terra’s worry. "You’re right. This would take months to heal on its own, so for my injuries, the medics will repair what’s broken, and then rebuild or replace the missing parts of my frame - I’ll _literally_ be as good as new," he said with a shrug - though, the movement made his arm cramp, and he winced at the feeling. "Fresh coat of paint and you won’t even be able to tell I was ever hurt!"

Terra frowned. "Missing parts? Are you... did you _lose_ parts of your body?" he cried, before shaking his head and taking another steadying breath. "I’m sorry. I know I’m tightly wound, I just... you say it’s not a big deal, that it’s easy to fix, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re _hurt_."

Drift smiled warmly at him, wanting nothing more than to reach through the screen and pull Terra close to his chassis, reassuring him with his touch. "It’s okay - _I’m okay._ It’s nothing major, I’m gonna be just fine," he said. "As long as our sparks aren’t snuffed out, my kind can survive just about anything."

This made Terra pause, the words piquing his interest. "Spark? What’s a spark?" he asked.

Drift hummed, trying to think of a way to answer that would make sense to a human. "Our spark is our... life force. If it gets damaged too badly, we die - but they’re really hard to get to, so that’s normally not an issue," he explained. "Every Cybertronian has one. It’s what keeps us alive, and what differentiates us from non-sentient robots."

"So it’s like... your heart?" Terra asked, tilting his head thoughtfully.

Drift smiled warmly at Terra. "Yeah, that’s a good comparison! Both the blood pumping kind and the... other one," he said, though he only knew a little bit about Terra’s more spiritual sort of heart.

Terra nodded in understanding. "Interesting," he said, thinking it over for a few minutes before sighing. "Well, I wish I could do something to help with your recovery. I’d send you a gift, but... you guys don’t really have a permanent address." He glanced up at Drift, offering him a small, wobbly smile.

That look drew out a smile on Drift’s own face and made warmth bloom in his chassis. "Your company has done a great deal to help, honestly."

Movement from the corner of his optic drew Drift’s attention, and he turned to see Velocity striding across the medibay, his mostly-repaired arm in her hands. She sat in a chair at his side, and he leaned over a bit so she could begin her work, careful not to jostle his comm unit too much.

"Having such a kind, handsome fella to talk to has helped distract me from the repairs," he remarked, sending a wink toward Terra.

His grin widened at the flush that rose to Terra’s cheeks at his words. "I, well... I’m glad I can help, even if it’s only through a screen" Terra said, making himself more comfortable, leaning against the wall behind him. "but you better keep your optics peeled for a ‘get well soon’ gift. As soon as I can figure out how to send you one."

Drift snorted. "You don’t have to do that, really! I will happily count our conversation as a gift," he said. Though...

The more Drift thought about gifts, the more appealing the thought of sending one to his boyfriend became. Terra had a permanent address, and Drift was _more_ than financially capable of spoiling him rotten. He’d definitely need to think about it when his helm wasn’t aching.

A loud noise from Terra’s end of the call made them both jump, and Terra turned his attention to the side, eyes wide with surprise.

"What was that?" Drift asked, tilting his head curiously.

"I’m... actually at a friend’s house," he explained. "I was hiding out in the bathroom because it was quiet - everyone else is in the living room, and... Well, hold on."

The screen changed as Terra turned and headed out of the room. "Sorry, Lea," Terra said, addressing a man with obnoxiously spiky red hair - Rodimus would surely be jealous of a hairdo like that.

"Yeah, it’s fine, I just --" Lea paused, his gaze catching Drift’s through the screen. His eyes widened in surprise, and he let out a low whistle. "Damn, they really _are_ robots?"

An awkward silence stretched between the three of them before Lea seemed to remember why he had shown up at the bathroom in the first place, and he departed rather quickly from the conversation, slamming the bathroom door shut behind him.

Drift raised a brow once he was gone, mentally replaying the brief exchange. Apparently, he was surprised that Drift was a robot, but, still knew he existed.

Did that mean that Terra... talked about Drift? To his friends?

Warmth rolled through his chassis at the thought, and he couldn’t help the soft blush that rose to his cheeks. Velocity giggled quietly at his side, and he felt the blush grow brighter - hopefully Terra wouldn’t notice.

Drift cleared his throat softly before speaking up again.

"Hey," he said, drawing Terra’s attention once more. "I missed you a lot, and I’m enjoying our conversation, but... I don’t want to keep you from having fun with your friends. And, I’m getting a little tired," he admitted with a smile. "Would you mind if I called you sometime tomorrow?"

Terra beamed at him, nodding his head. "Of course! I don’t wanna keep you from your rest. Hope you recharge well, and feel better tomorrow, even if only a little bit," he said, his voice softer than it had been in the other room. "Talk to you later."

Drift grinned back, his spark fluttering happily at the gentleness in Terra’s eyes and voice. "Thanks, Terra. Hope you enjoy the rest of your evening," he said, shooting him a sleepy wink before ending the call.

He finally loosened the struts of his arm, relief flooding through the limb as he rested it against the medical berth. With a happy sigh, he leaned back, settling more comfortably against the slab.

"Ugh, you two are _so cute!_ " Velocity cried, freeing a servo to hold it over her chassis.

Drift’s blush returned full-force, his optics squeezing shut. He wasn’t really sure how to respond to the comment, but luckily she went back to work on his arm without expanding on the conversation - or his embarrassment.

* * *

"So, wait," Ventus began, brow furrowed as he dropped the sandwich he had been about to take a bite out of. "You’re telling me that Drift... lost his _entire_ arm, and was able to get it replaced?"

Aqua, sitting beside Ven, looked just as disturbed with the idea as Terra had felt when he had talked to Drift a few weeks prior. Terra sighed and nodded his head, swallowing the bite of food in his mouth.

"Yeah," he answered once he could. "I wouldn’t have even realized he’d lost it if he hadn’t let it slip last night while we were talking. The whole upper joint had to be rebuilt, but it looked just like his old one."

"No way," Ven breathed before remembering his food and taking a huge bite.

"It’s... amazing the kind of damage they can take," Aqua chimed in, poking at her pasta with her fork. She looked as though she had lost her appetite. "How can they survive all of that?"

"We’ve survived worse," Terra supplied with a shrug. "We’ve known people who went through worse. Drift says that as long as their spark doesn’t get too badly damaged, they can recover from just about any kind of physical injury."

"Spark?" Aqua asked, confused.

Ventus jumped at the mention of the word, eyes alight. "Oh man, you’ve been dating Rodimus for _how_ long?" His tone was teasing, and he got a rough shuffling of his hair for his efforts. Ven laughed and pushed Aqua’s hand away before continuing. "It’s basically like their hearts! Like their life source."

Terra nodded. "That’s basically how Drift explained it. So long as it’s ok, they’re ok."

Ventus turned to Terra, eyes bright. "Oh! Have you seen Drift’s yet?"

Terra balked, head jerking backward. "Have I... have I what?"

"Seen it!" Ven clarified with an eager nod. "Tailgate and Swerve explained that they can show their sparks to people if they want, but they didn’t want to show me. I’m dying to know what they look like!"

Terra and Aqua shared a look. An idea had begun to unfold in Terra’s mind, and he could tell that Aqua was on the same track. To be able to show off your heart, actually let someone else see it...

Well, it couldn’t hurt to ask Drift, right?

-

After a few weeks of making up for his time spent in the medibay, Drift’s day off had _finally_ arrived.

He knew Rodimus would have let him take some time off earlier if he knew how stressed out Drift had been, but... he’d never felt the desire to do such a thing. Drift promised himself he would work toward his vacation day like every other crewmember, and he was pretty satisfied with himself for actually following through with it.

But, now that the day was here, he was happy to say he’d taken full advantage of the time to himself. Some might call him crazy for planning out his day so extensively, especially since he wanted to _relax_ , but there was a method to his madness - behind all of that planning was the ideal self-care day that he’d been working very hard to get to.

The relaxation began from the moment he stirred from recharge with a long, enlightening meditation session. While this was a normal part of his routine, he usually had to split the time into two shorter ones throughout the day, which didn’t always work too well. He’d followed the meditation up with a very relaxing hot oil bath - a rare indulgence that got all of those awful knots out of his struts. They took a considerable amount of time to actually calm him, so he tended to wait until he had a full day to enjoy them. And now, he was currently finishing up a wash and wax. While he wasn’t one to neglect his frame, he felt as though the stress of work had dulled his paint job some. The slow, meticulous motions helped further relax him, and he knew he’d look _damn_ good once he was all finished.

Drift startled a bit when his comm unit buzzed, and he glanced down to see a message from Terra, asking if he was available to talk.

A light flush rose to his cheeks when he felt the way his spark surged in his chassis, clearly delighted to hear from the little human. Drift smiled, wiping the wax off of one servo to confirm that he’d be ready in about half an hour, though now that he had plans for afterward, he found himself hurrying the process a bit.

-

Rather than sit around and wait for Drift, Terra spent the half hour training. It was nothing spectacular or difficult, just practicing different techniques with his keyblade, but the motion was enough to keep him occupied. For some reason, the prospect of just _asking_ Drift about his spark sent him on edge.

He was more eager than he thought he’d be when faced with the prospect of seeing his boyfriend’s spark. He couldn’t help but wonder what it looked like, or where it was - and the idea of being able to _show_ it to anyone like that?

It was so different, so _alien_ , but at the same time, it was familiar enough to pique Terra’s curiosity.

Of course, with his mind already occupied with thoughts of the spark and his tendency to get sucked into training, Terra hadn’t realized how much time had passed until his phone began to buzz. He winced, realizing he was sweaty and had no time to clean up, but shoved his discomfort aside as he grabbed the device and rushed back to his room.

When he answered the call and caught sight of Drift’s face, his greeting got caught in his throat.

Drift was _dazzling_.

The bot took in Terra’s appearance with a raised brow and a sly grin. "My, my - I sure hope I’m not interrupting anything," he teased. "If I am, feel free to carry on - I’ll just sit here and watch. Don’t mind me."

A bright flush instantly bloomed across Terra’s face, and he ducked his head, looking away from Drift. "No, no, I was just training. Not umm, interrupting anything!"

Terra cleared his throat, turning back toward the screen to see that Drift’s gaze had turned gentle, helping some of his embarrassment melt away. "And what about you? Is it just me or are you shinier than usual?" he asked with a small smile of his own. "It’s a good look."

His smile widened when he saw the color rise to Drift’s cheeks this time. "I... well, thank you. I just finished a much-needed detail job," Drift said, scratching the back of his helm almost nervously. "I had the day off, so I actually had time to get everything done. How have you been?"

"That’s good to hear!" Terra smiled, happy to know that Drift had finally gotten some time to relax after the past few weeks. "Things have been okay - nothing too exciting happening over here since we talked last night," he explained as he headed across his room. He sat in the chair in the corner, not wanting to make his sheets gross and sweaty, and thought over his next words carefully.

"I... was talking with Ventus earlier, and he brought something up that I kind of wanted to ask you about, actually," Terra said, giving Drift a nervous smile.

Drift hummed thoughtfully, making himself comfortable on his berth. "Well... ask away, then!" he said after a moment.

Terra took a steadying breath. "Well, okay. If this is... too weird, or... insensitive or something, just say so, okay?"

Drift nodded, giving Terra a reassuring smile. "Of course!"

Terra glanced away, unable to look Drift in the eye as he spoke. "Ven mentioned that you guys can... show your sparks if you wanted to. I was just wondering if... I could see yours?"

His question was met with silence - stunned silence, he realized when he glanced at the screen again.

Drift’s optics were huge, darting around and looking anywhere but at Terra. His mouth opened and closed a few times, faceplates growing pinker and pinker by the second as he processed the words.

Those wide, helpless eyes finally turned back to the screen, pinning Terra down and making his stomach twist into a knot of guilt.

Of all the reactions Terra had expected to receive for his question, Drift being flustered to the point of speechlessness wasn’t one he’d prepared for, or even _considered_.

Terra swallowed, his own eyes growing wide as panic began to set in, though he shoved it to the side to try and backpedal out of the situation. "Hey, Drift! I’m sorry, I just... I’m clearly missing something," he said, his voice a little louder than it probably needed to be. "Let’s just move on, and forget I said anything."

That seemed to break some of the tension. Drift finally sucked in a deep breath, and Terra heard the soft whirring of his fans booting on again. Drift remained quiet for another moment, eventually shaking his head.

"No, it’s okay," Drift croaked, the sound of his voice making both of them flinch.

Drift cleared his intake, taking another steadying vent, and began to speak again. "It’s... they’re, uhh... Ven is correct - they are... _visible_." He clapped a servo over his face, letting out a low, mortified whine.

Watching Drift struggle to explain made the guilt weigh down even more heavily on Terra. He wanted to insist that it was fine, they didn’t have to talk about this, but he could tell Drift wasn’t quite done so he held his tongue.

"It’s just... we don’t normally... _do_ that. It’s very personal, carries some... implications," Drift said through his fingers, giving another deep sigh before letting his hand fall away. "Like... partners-for-life implications. Maybe someday I could, but I just can’t... not like this..."

Terra frowned. Of _course_ it was personal, he should have _known_ it would be! It was like his heart! He’d just gotten so caught up in his own curiosity and wonderment that he didn’t even consider --

"I... I’m sorry," Terra said, shaking his head. "I should have thought more about it before asking. You don’t have to show me if you don’t want to!"

Drift swallowed, offering Terra a wobbly smile. "It’s not that I don’t... want... to. It will just take me a little while to get there. I hope you understand?"

Terra nodded, giving Drift a small smile of his own. "Yeah, I completely understand. It sounds like a really big step."

He sighed softly, biting his lip and sinking lower in his chair. "Still... I’m really sorry. Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

"No, no! You’re fine," Drift assured him, shaking his head and giving a quiet laugh. "You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sorry if I made you feel bad for asking, you just caught me off guard a little."

"It’s alright, I understand why you reacted that way." Terra let out a low breath, rubbing his forehead and looking up at the ceiling. "Man... no _wonder_ Ven couldn’t get anyone to show him. You’d think someone would have explained it to him," he said, a small smile rising to his face.

Drift’s loud, incredulous " _What?_ " drew Terra’s attention to the screen again, just in time to see the astonished look on his boyfriend’s face. "He asked multiple people? How..." he trailed off, shaking his head a few times. "Why do I get the feeling that Swerve is behind all of this?"

Terra snorted. "Yeah, Ven did mention he heard it from Swerve and Tailgate. I don’t know who else was there, but at least those two were."

Drift nodded, fixing Terra with a serious look. "Please don’t tell me Aqua heard about this. Roddy is... particularly touchy about his spark."

"Aqua... was there. Had no clue. She didn’t even know what a spark was," Terra admitted, frowning down into his lap. "She’s gonna be really embarrassed if she just goes and asks."

"Don’t worry," Drift said, pulling his comm unit out of his subspace and typing something on it. "I’ll try and warn him - if I still have time, that is..."

After a moment, Drift put the device down. "I hope you don’t mind, Terra, but I actually have a question for you as well," he said softly, giving Terra a warmer, more genuine smile that made his heart flutter in his chest.

Terra swallowed hard, hoping that whatever it was, it wasn’t nearly as mortifying as the question he’d asked. "Uhh, alright. What is it?"

Drift’s expression turned cheeky, making Terra’s heart race even faster. "Well, I’ve been wondering... how much can you lift, big guy?"

The unexpectedness of the question, as well as the _way_ Drift asked it, made Terra blush brightly, which in turn made Drift grin even wider.

He wasn’t sure why Drift was asking, but Terra could already tell that it was going to lead to an interesting conversation.

* * *

Terra blinked at the large crate that sat on the dining table.

When Ven mentioned that Terra had a package waiting for him at home, he had failed to mention just how... big it was. It took up the entire surface of the tabletop and then some. The box was easily taller than Terra was, and yet... it was surprisingly thin.

No doubt it was from Drift - he'd had been teasing about a gift for a few weeks now. Terra knew he should open it, but couldn’t help but take a moment to try and guess what could be in there. The box was such a _weird_ shape and was made out of very sturdy material. It was marked with several odd looking labels, one of the few that he could actually read stated that the item inside was "FRAGILE".

Terra huffed and shook his head, moving forward to open the box. It took a little while to pry it open and tear away at the packaging inside, but when it was all said and done Terra was left... breathless.

It was a beautifully detailed... sword? The blade itself was covered in intricate carvings of thorny vines and partially plated in silver to help highlight the details. Like the box it came in, the weapon was taller than Terra was, so it was big enough to technically act as a sword - but, upon closer inspection of the shape of the hilt and the cut of the blade, Terra guessed that it was supposed to be a very large dagger, or something similar.

Terra took a deep, steadying breath, his hands shaking as he pulled out his phone. He needed to make a call.

-

Drift lounged on his berth, resting on his front as he tried to fill out some paperwork. His tired optics scanned the notes he’d taken at the staff meeting that morning, struggling to read a series of glyphs he didn’t remember writing. The entire sentence was written so hastily that it could have said any number of things.

It didn’t help that he could barely keep his optics open, making the already illegible writing even more difficult to read.

He startled a bit when a request for a video chat from Terra suddenly filled up the screen. A sudden burst of excitement washed over him and he grinned, considerably more alert at the prospect of something _interesting_ to do.

Drift eagerly answered the request, propping up the datapad so they could see each other better.

The frown on Terra’s face made Drift’s smile falter a bit, and he regarded his partner with caution. "Hey... everything alright, big guy?"

Terra’s brow furrowed, and he took a deep, steadying breath. "Everything is... okay," he said. "I just... Drift. Would you care to explain..." he trailed off, turning the camera around on his phone and aiming it at his kitchen table, which held the dagger Drift had sent him, "what _this_ is all about?"

Drift did _not_ squeal excitedly when he laid eyes on the weapon.

Well, okay - maybe he did.

He couldn’t tell much through the screen, but from what he could see, it was absolutely _gorgeous_. Drift hoped that he could see it in person soon, but as it was, he could only hope that it was exactly as he had asked of the commissioner - he’d spent a lot of time picking out the perfect gift, and had paid a considerable amount of money for it.

"You got it! I hope you like it, I didn’t get a chance to look it over before I sent it your way... Wow. It looks a lot bigger than I thought it would be - it might actually be a few feet off. Sorry about that... But I think the weight should be manageable at least!"

He could sense that he was babbling, so Drift clamped his intake shut, allowing Terra a chance to speak again. Nervousness washed over him when he realized that Terra hadn’t said whether or not he even liked it yet.

Luckily, when the camera turned around again, Drift got an eyeful of Terra’s grinning face, and he let out a sigh of relief.

"I do like it! It’s a very beautiful weapon. I don’t think I can use it for anything other than decoration, though," he said, giving it another long look.

Drift’s spark fluttered happily at the words - Terra liked it! He thought it was beautiful! He couldn’t really use it, but Drift didn’t mind that as long as Terra didn’t.

Terra frowned a little then, fixing Drift with a serious look. "Thank you, I adore it, but... Drift. How much did this cost?"

"Ah, don’t worry about that," Drift said, waving a hand at Terra. "This was just a drop in the bucket. I _did_ buy my best friend a spaceship, after all, so this? This is no biggie."

He gave Terra a soft, warm smile before continuing. "I’m just... glad you like it. That makes it well worth the price I paid!"

Terra blinked a few times, processing the information. "Well... thank you again. It’s lovely," he said, a small smile returning to his face again.

"Of course!" Drift said. He quirked a brow at Terra, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "I do have to ask, though - can you pick it up?"

Terra snorted, giving Drift a knowing smile. "Let’s see..." he said, walking across the room to prop his phone on the kitchen counter.

Drift’s eyes widened with intrigue as Terra headed back toward the dagger. He rolled his shoulders briefly and, with more ease than one would expect, lifted it off of the table. A soft, excited gasp escaped Drift’s mouth as the scale of the weapon became more clear - yeah, he’d definitely been off by a foot or two, but it didn’t seem to deter Terra one bit.

Terra turned back toward his phone with a grin, making Drift’s spark swirl about with interest. "That answer your question?" he asked.

Drift nodded rapidly a few times. "Oh yes, yes it _does_ ," he said, blatantly ogling his boyfriend through the tiny screen. Terra could pick up anything and make it look light as a feather, and if Drift hadn’t been laying down, that little demonstration would have made his knees wobble. "Thanks for showing me, Terra-bear!"

Once the blade was carefully placed on the table again, Terra’s smile fell a bit. His nose crinkled as he made his way back to his phone, picking it up off of the counter. " _Terra-bear_? What’s that about?" he asked, voice almost incredulous.

A flush rose to Drift’s cheeks, his eyes darting away from the screen nervously. "Oh! Uh, well... I was just trying out a pet name? I... kind of give everyone little nicknames. And I like you a lot, so..."

He looked back at Terra with a wince, noting that he’d taken a seat at the table. "I take it you’re not a huge fan of them?" Drift asked, though he wouldn’t be upset if that were the case. As much as he loved giving little nicknames to his friends, it was rare that Drift actually liked the ones that had been bestowed upon him.

"It isn’t that I dislike them, I guess - well. I don’t think I like Terra-bear. I’m just not really used to nicknames," he said with a shrug. "My name is pretty short, so it’s hard to shorten it further. And the few that have come up never really... stuck. I’ve always just been Terra."

Drift nodded in understanding. "Yeah. That’s the same problem with my name. Unless you tack on a whole new word, but there isn’t a whole lot that sounds good with Drift. Or Terra, as it turns out..." he said, laughing nervously.

He was thankful that Terra wasn’t... visibly upset or uncomfortable by the idea. He seemed more confused than anything, if Drift had to guess.

"I... came up with a bunch, actually," he confessed, his blush brightening as he dug his comm unit out of his subspace and pulled up the rather lengthy list. He held the device in front of his datapad camera for a moment, letting Terra get an eyeful of it. "As you can see, I’ve been quite busy."

Terra’s eyes widened, a surprised laugh bubbling out of him. "Well, then. It’d be a shame to not at least listen to the others you had in mind?"

Drift gave him a small, nervous smile. "I, umm, alright," he said, suddenly feeling bashful over it. "I did a lot of research on what humans like, but some of these seem a little... weird. So I don’t know if you’ll like them or not."

With a calming breath, Drift looked down at his list and began to read the first few, doing his best to fight down his ever-increasing blush as he went.

"Darling, muffin, hot stuff, big guy, hunky monkey, sweetheart - although, I’d probably use the Cybertronian equivalent, sweetspark; dear, honey bun, snuggie woogems..."

He trailed off, eyes darting up to catch Terra’s reaction - which was. Well.

Terra didn’t look... _upset_. Or did he?

His expression was a grimace of sorts - a strange combination of disgust and amusement - and it sent a sharp pang of embarrassment straight to Drift’s spark. Once Terra’s eyes met his, the look went away, and he cleared his throat, forcing a small smile.

"I, well, uhh... Those were... interesting?" he said, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. "I mean, I really do like a few!"

Drift winced. Was Terra just saying that to not hurt his feelings? Maybe this was a bad idea...

Terra took another breath, his smile becoming warmer and more sincere. "Darling and sweetspark are... nice. Dear is too. And you already call me things like hot stuff and big guy, so I don’t mind those at all," he said. "The rest, though? Not really doing it for me."

Drift nodded, some of his nervousness finally fading away. "Alright. Those are the ones I liked best too, honestly. And... the list just gets weirder as it goes on so let’s stop there..." he said, laughing softly and putting his comm unit away.

"I have to say, though - I’m a little bummed that snuggie woogems didn’t make the cut," Drift teased lightly. "I was certain you’d be all over that one!"

Terra let out a surprised laugh at that, seemingly unable to hold it back any longer. "Yeah, hard to imagine why I wouldn’t go for that one," he said with a grin.

His grin melted into something softer. "This was all incredibly sweet of you, Drift," he said, his voice warmer than it had been before. "Both the gift and the nicknames... I --" he cut himself off, swallowing hard and tearing his eyes away. "I can’t thank you enough."

Drift’s own expression softened at the words, and he wanted nothing more than to lean forward and pepper that handsome face with tiny little kisses. Unfortunately, the most he could do right now was smile affectionately at Terra through the screen, so he settled for doing just that.

"You’re more than welcome," Drift replied, his own voice quiet. "I know it’s... hard. To be so far apart like this. I just I wanted you to know how much I appreciate that you’ve stuck with me through it all."

Terra huffed, shrugging his shoulders. "Trust me, I’m no stranger to distance coming between people. The fact that we can talk regularly helps things a lot." He tossed Drift a more confident grin. "And besides, you should know by now that I’m stubborn as hell."

This pulled an unexpected laugh out of Drift, and he quickly nodded in agreement. "Yeah, no, you’re absolutely right. You are easily one of the most stubborn people I know, second only to Rodimus," he said.

Drift sighed happily, though it quickly morphed into a small yawn, his sleepiness from earlier making itself known again. The yawn didn’t go unnoticed, if Terra’s soft chuckle was anything to go by.

"Tired?" Terra asked with a grin.

"No," Drift said, blinking a few times and shaking his head. "I’m fine!"

Terra merely raised an amused brow at him, not seeming all that convinced. "Uh-huh. So... which one of us is the stubborn one, again?"

Drift shook his head. "I’m not being stubborn! It’s just..." he trailed off, smirking over at Terra. "Talking to my _snuggie woogems_ is way more important than recharge."

A tired sigh escaped Terra, his face scrunching up in distaste. "Drift..."

"Don’t worry, I’m just messing with you," Drift said, checking his chronometer with a wince. "I probably _should_ recharge soon. I got hung up in some paperwork before you called, so the night kinda snuck up on me."

"That’s cool. I don’t want to keep you up too late," Terra agreed with a nod of his head. "Thank you again for... well, everything. It was incredibly thoughtful of you. We’ll talk again soon, okay?"

"Of course!" Drift smiled tiredly at him, blowing a kiss through the screen. "Night, Terra!"

Terra reached out, pretending to catch the kiss. "Good night Drift," he replied with a small smile of his own.

Drift couldn’t fight the light flush that rose to his cheeks at the silly little action, nor could he hide the wide grin that stayed on his faceplates long after the call ended.

* * *

If it were any other day, Drift would have been at least a little embarrassed at how nervous and excited he was acting - pacing across the bridge like a caged turbofox, constantly fidgeting and checking his chronometer, letting out soft, frustrated sighs. He was usually pretty good at keeping his composure, but he would have to cut himself a little slack just this once.

After all, it wasn’t every day that he got to reunite with his boyfriend for the first time in well over a year.

He had been waiting on the bridge all day, checking the panels closely until the planet where the humans resided was finally in sight. Rodimus was plastered to his side, just as impatient and eager to get down there as Drift was.

Unlike Rodimus, however, Drift was going to head down in his holoform, which meant he’d be leaving any minute now - as soon as the Lost Light was orbiting the planet. Rodimus had decided to go down mass displaced, which meant he’d have to physically get off of the ship, but the extra few minutes to wait didn’t seem to bother him.

Once the ship was close enough, Drift pulled out his comm unit, sending Terra a quick message.

_heading down there in a minute!_

He then turned to Rodimus, pulling him into a quick hug. "Tell Aqua hi for me, okay?" he said with a small smile.

"Will do," Rodimus replied with a grin of his own. "Now, go on. Get down there and see your big guy," he said, giving Drift a playful shove.

Drift didn’t need to be told twice. He raced back to his habsuite, quickly parking his alt mode and activating his holoform as close to Terra’s address as he could manage.

-

Terra heaved a sigh as he walked into the house, kicking the door shut behind him before heading straight for the kitchen to drop off the groceries he'd bought. He could hear Ven loudly listening to music in his room upstairs, and the sound from the living room just behind the kitchen alerted him to Aqua watching TV. He hummed as he placed the various bags in his hands on the nearest counter, then turned around, mouth open to call to his friends.

When he caught sight of a man standing just behind him, though, what came out of his mouth instead was a startled shriek, keyblade instinctively appearing in his hand and swinging towards the intruder. Bright blue eyes widened and the man squeaked as he jumped out of the way just in time, resulting in the keyblade embedding itself into the floor.

Terra’s heart sank when his mind finally caught up with the situation and he realized just who the intruder was. " _Drift!_ " he cried, quickly putting his keyblade away. He was barely aware of Aqua and Ven rushing into the room as he focused his attention onto his boyfriend, who was now sprawled out on the floor.

"Shit, I’m so sorry! Are you ok?" he asked.

Drift merely laid there for several seconds, holding a hand over his heart as he stared up at the ceiling. If it weren’t for the shallow, frantic breathing, Terra would have wondered if Drift had narrowly avoided being bludgeoned to death only to die of fright.

"I’m... fine," he eventually croaked, giving a small, shaky laugh and sitting up a little. "I... I’m sorry! I thought I would appear somewhere outside, not right in the middle of your home!"

Terra’s shoulders slumped with relief, glad to know he was alright. He sighed quietly, running one hand through his hair and sending a glance toward his friends. Aqua’s brows were furrowed with worry, while Ven, realizing that nobody was in any actual danger, looked as though he was barely holding back laughter.

Terra gave them both pointed looks, hoping they’d catch the hint and leave before turning back to Drift, who was now trying to stand on wobbly legs. He helped Drift up with ease, pulling him into a tight hug once he was off the floor.

"I’m sorry," he murmured into Drift’s hair. "That was some reunion, huh?"

Drift laughed breathlessly against Terra’s chest, his arms winding around Terra’s sides to grip the back of his shirt. They merely stood there, holding each other for a long, quiet moment.

"It’s fine, you’re fine," Drift finally said, leaning back a bit to look up into Terra’s eyes. He all but melted in Terra’s arms once their eyes met, and he gave Terra a small smile. "I take it you didn’t get my text?" he asked.

Terra winced and shook his head. "I kind of forgot my phone in my room today. I just got home from getting groceries and, uh, hadn’t had the chance to check it." He gave Drift a nervous grin.

In the background the doorbell rang, and Ven - who had not caught the hint and had been snickering at them - rushed towards the front door with an eager pep in his step. A chorus of greetings rang through the room as soon as the door opened, voices that Terra recognized.

Glad for the distraction, Terra lifted a brow as he turned his attention back towards Drift. "More of the crew?"

Drift’s brows furrowed at the sound of the others, and he gave Terra an apologetic look. "Yeah. Looks like they had the same idea."

He shrank a little in Terra’s hold, as though he were trying to hide. "Is there... somewhere we can talk? Alone?" he asked after a moment, his voice barely audible over the crowd that had gathered in the front of the house.

Terra hummed as he looked around the area, gaze moving from Ven and his friends chatting loudly in the doorway, to Aqua standing near the back of the room looking at her phone - likely texting Rodimus, if Terra had to guess. His eyes darted to the door to his bedroom that was just beyond the group crowding the front door and nodded once.

Wrapping an arm around Drift’s shoulders, Terra waited until Aqua looked up from her phone and glanced their way before leaning his head down and murmuring into Drift’s ear, "Follow my lead."

Drift nodded and allowed Terra to lead him out of the kitchen, giggling as Terra placed small kisses on the side of his face and neck and ear. Terra took a moment to glance towards Aqua, her eyes widening and face paling as she watched them walk out of the kitchen and toward Terra’s room. As they moved, the chattering by the doorway quieted a bit, though not completely.

As soon as the door was closed behind them, Aqua’s voice could be heard talking above the others, quickly ushering everyone out of the house. Terra smirked as he pulled away from Drift, letting out a small "Ta-da!" once he heard the front door shut.

Drift let out a surprised laugh, his smile growing wide at the now-quiet home. He stepped right into Terra’s space, cupping his cheeks and gazing adoringly at him.

It was... embarrassingly easy for Terra to get lost in Drift’s eyes, which were so much more bright and beautiful than he remembered.

His smile fell away, and he felt his breath hitch in his throat as Drift stood on his tiptoes, bringing their lips together tenderly. Terra easily melted against Drift’s mouth, not realizing how much he’d _missed_ kissing him until that moment. His heart fluttered wildly in his chest until Drift pulled away, and he couldn’t fight the soft, goofy grin that blossomed on his face.

"Thank you. I’ve been thinking about doing that for months, but then I scared you, and then there were so many people everywhere, and it was just _a lot_ \--" Drift said, his words coming out of him in a rush. He quickly clapped his hands over his face, taking a steadying breath.

It took Terra a moment to catch up with what Drift was saying because he was talking so fast. Once he did, he smiled and pried Drift’s hands away from his face so he could hold them gently.

"I understand," he said softly, placing a small kiss on Drift’s forehead. "Sorry again for almost bludgeoning you."

Drift huffed out an amused breath, shaking his head. "Sorry for just randomly appearing in the middle of your house. I promise it wasn’t on purpose," he said, his eyes focusing on something behind Terra.

He stepped back a bit, taking in his surroundings. "Where are we? Is this... your room?" he asked softly.

Terra nodded, a light flush rising to his cheeks when he remembered they were, indeed, in his rather small bedroom. "Yep," he answered with a chuckle, gesturing vaguely around them. "Welcome to my humble abode."

The walls were a plain light tan color, decorated with various pictures of his friends and souvenirs he’d picked up over the years. It was, in all honesty, a rather cramped space, with his huge bed and dresser taking up a lot of the space, but since it was just him in there Terra didn’t really mind all that much. If there were ever times where he or any of his friends needed company when the night refused to let them rest, they either piled up in the living room or in one of the other’s rooms.

At least his room was clean, though, with the only objects taking up the ground space being the dagger Drift had gifted him, a couple of weights he used for exercise, a small chair, and his gift for Drift. He winced as his eyes landed on the giant gold medallion, hoping against hope that Drift wouldn’t notice it.

Drift grinned as he looked around, his gaze mostly focused on the photographs and other hanging decorations. His eyes found the bed, and he gestured toward it.

"Can I sit there?" he asked.

"Sure," Terra replied with a nod. He watched with mild amusement as Drift perched on the very edge of the mattress, clearly trying to avoid messing up the covers too much, then moved to take a seat next to him.

Drift looked around for another long moment, and he let out a soft sigh. "This is nice," he said, and he sounded sincere. "Very personal and homey."

His eyes then fell on the dagger, and he turned to face Terra while pointing at it. "I would be more than happy to hold on to that for you until you have a permanent place to put it, if you want. Just let me know - it would hardly take up room in my subspace," he said before shooting Terra an apologetic smile. "I... didn’t realize how limited your space was."

Terra shook his head. "Don’t worry about it! It’s not like you could have known. And, besides, I like having it in here," he said, his heart warming as he looked at it again. "I really can’t thank you enough for it."

He sighed happily, eyes once again landing on his gift for Drift. What would be the best way to give it to him? Should he give it to him now, or wait till later? Or --

Ah, fuck it.

"Actually," he began with a small grin, "since you’re here, now’s the perfect time for me to give you _your_ gift."

"Oh, okay! That sounds nice," Drift said, his whole face lighting up with surprise, as though he’d just now remembered that Terra had gotten him something. With all of the excitement that had happened upon Drift’s arrival, Terra understood how the detail could have been pushed into the back of his mind.

It was just a little amusing when he remembered how much Drift begged for "a hint, any kind of hint, _please?_ " for the past several months.

Terra smiled, swallowing the nervous lump in his throat as he went to retrieve the serving-tray-sized medallion.

When he turned back to face Drift, those bright eyes were sparkling with interest, and he felt some of his worry melt away - though it still lingered a bit in the back of his mind. On some level, he knew that Drift wouldn’t care one way or the other just how fancy the gift was. But the fact of the matter was that he wasn’t made of money like Drift apparently was.

He handed the gift to Drift, who let out a breathless laugh. "Wow, it’s heavy!" he said, eyes and fingers tracing all over the various symbols embossed along the sides. "It’s... beautiful! What is it?" he asked, turning to beam up at Terra.

It was Terra’s turn to be surprised, not expecting Drift to be so excited. "Oh. Well, it’s a sort of... good luck charm," he explained. "It’s supposed to be something you hang on a wall. But I figured it would be the perfect size for you to carry around when you’re a bot if you wanted."

Drift’s eyes widened. "Luck? Well, that’s right up my alley!"

"Yeah!" Terra replied eagerly, Drift’s excitement almost contagious and making more of his nervousness fade away. "I bought it from a Moogle - they craft all sorts of magical items, including keyblades! So the magic in it should be real."

"Oh, that’s cool! I’ve never had anything magical before." After a moment he nudged Terra’s arm with his elbow. "Well... except for you, of course," he amended with a grin.

He set the medallion off to the side before turning back toward Terra, his gaze turning softer as they looked at each other. "Thank you so much, babe, I... I love it," he said, leaning over to leave a soft kiss along his cheek.

Terra flushed brightly, but he was grinning nonetheless, a giddy sort of happiness blossoming in his chest. "You’re welcome. I’m glad you like it," he said quietly, his eyes warm as he looked down at Drift.

Unable to resist, he returned the kiss, placing it on Drift’s temple before wrapping an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close. Drift leaned his head against Terra’s, and they sat in a peaceful silence for a few minutes, simply enjoying each other’s company.

"So," Terra began quietly. "I... need to put the groceries away, but after that - what did you want to do today? I wanted to show you around town, but is there anything else you wanted to do?"

Drift hummed thoughtfully, the two of them pulling away so they could look at each other. "That sounds like fun to me! I... hadn’t really thought of what I wanted to do once I got down here," he admitted. "Honestly... I just want to spend some time with you. May I start by helping you put away the food?"

Terra placed another kiss on Drift’s forehead. "Alright, that sounds good to me," he said with a small smile. He rose to his feet, offering Drift a hand to help him stand as well.

When he felt his boyfriend’s hand grip his own, Terra’s heart felt like it could burst with excitement - _finally_ , they were able to spend time together in person. He was with the man he loved, and he was eager to see what the day had in store for them.

* * *

Terra smiled as he rode his glider through the air, the land beneath him new and breathtaking. This world had yet to be touched by the heartless, thank goodness, so he nor the other keyblade wielders had yet to set foot on its soil. He was excited to explore it, especially since it was a world with knowledge of others outside its own, but that would all have to wait for a later date.

He wasn’t here on some whim. He was here for a reason.

There, on the horizon, in a field far off from the city, sat the Lost Light. Terra’s heart fluttered at the thought of seeing Drift again - after so many months apart, he still wasn’t used to the fact that they could see each other so often in person.

Terra directed the glider towards the ship, quickly making his way around to the hangar door where he and Drift had agreed to meet. He wasn’t sure what his boyfriend had planned for today, but he didn’t really care; just spending time with him was enough. Terra headed inside, putting away his glider and armor in a flash of light as soon as his feet touched the metal floor.

-

There was no doubt about it: Drift was terribly nervous as he waited for Terra to arrive.

It had taken months of careful preparation and research, but he was certain that he’d truly planned the perfect date for tonight. He wanted to really woo Terra, so he’d analyzed everything right down to the last detail. He even had a couple of backup plans if there were any hiccups.

And then, if everything else was successful, Drift planned to show Terra his spark. He wanted Terra to know just how serious he was, how much he _loved_ him, and he couldn’t think of a better way to do that than to bare his spark to him.

Those three little words had been on the tip of his glossa for months, and it was becoming more and more difficult to keep them reigned in. He’d almost let it slip a few times, but he didn’t want to rush things, so he promised to keep his feelings to himself - until tonight, at least. 

Unless Terra said it first, of course - then he'd absolutely share how he felt.

In all honesty, Drift had no idea how Terra felt. Sure, he knew his boyfriend liked him and cared deeply about him, but love? That was a _completely_ different thing, and it came more quickly to some than it did to others.

Drift checked his chronometer again, realizing that Terra would probably be there at any moment. His tanks churned with nervousness and excitement alike, not knowing what the night would bring, though he knew worrying would do little to help things.

He heard Terra before he saw him, audials perking up at the sound of his glider and footsteps. Pushing aside his nervousness, Drift quickly headed over to where Terra had landed, giving him an excited wave as soon as they made eye contact.

When he reached Terra’s side, he kneeled down so they were at a more similar height, smiling warmly down at him. "Hey handsome," he said, lowering a servo in a silent offering. "Thanks for meeting up with me. I hope that the trip out here wasn’t too bad!"

Terra beamed as he quickly climbed into Drift’s servo, clinging tightly to the nearest digit as he was lifted away from the floor.

Once Drift was standing again, he brought Terra up close to his face to take a closer look at him. Terra took advantage of this closeness to lean forward and press a light kiss under one of Drift’s optics, the barely-there touch making Drift’s spark flutter happily.

"Thanks for inviting me. The trip was fine," Terra answered with a smile, settling down in Drift’s servo so they could see each other more easily. "I haven’t been out here before, so it was cool to see some new sights."

Drift grinned down at him, moving his hand down so Terra was more at level with his chassis, making it easier for him to see where he was walking. "Well, that’s perfect, then!" he chirped. "I have a few things planned for us to do today, so I’m happy that they’ll be a new experience for us both!" 

Terra sent a curious look his way, and Drift’s smile turned nervous as his footsteps carried them away from the Lost Light. "If that’s... okay with you, that is. I hope it’s alright that I planned things for us to do, I didn’t really mention it beforehand..."

Terra’s grin widened and he shook his head, reaching down to pat Drift’s palm reassuringly. "It’s more than ok, Drift. Don’t worry." His hand slid back into his lap, and he leaned back a bit so he could better meet Drift’s gaze. "It’s actually incredibly sweet of you, and I’m excited to see what you have planned!"

Drift’s smile brightened again, and he let out a vent of relief. "Okay, great! I want some of it to be a surprise, but here’s what I can tell you..."

He pointed with his free hand toward civilization in the distance, separated by a strip of wilderness - it was far enough away for a short walk in his root mode, or a more lengthy hike if Terra preferred to go by foot. "That’s our destination, if it wasn’t clear, but I thought we’d take a little walk to get there if that’s okay?"

Drift tried not to go into too much detail for the rest of his plans, leaving out the very specific route through the wilderness that he wanted to take to show Terra an incredible view of the planet's unique environment. He also left out a couple of other little surprises, but he was sure to ask Terra what kind of food he was in the mood for. Though... once their meal plan was secured, Drift found that he couldn’t help himself, bringing up a few of the other places in the city that they’d hopefully be able to visit.

The planet was a mildly popular vacation spot (that was _actually_ welcoming to Cybertronians, thank Primus), so there were all sorts of touristy spots that he’d been curious about when the Lost Light first stopped here for repairs. But, when he realized it was actually close enough for Terra to travel to, Drift refrained from exploring too much so he and Terra could experience the various activities and sights together.

Drift was so caught up in outlining their plans that he hadn’t realized the way Terra was looking up at him. He had remained quiet for the entirety of Drift’s eager explanation, listening carefully, and Drift worried that he’d been babbling again. Not wanting to overload Terra with information, he quickly wrapped up the rest of his thought, giving Terra a sheepish smile and a chance to talk.

Terra blinked a few times before he opened his mouth to speak, and Drift mentally prepared himself for the worst - perhaps he had planned a little too much?

"I love you," Terra said, his voice breathless, as though the words had been punched out of him.

Drift frowned. He mentally replayed the words a few times, just to make sure his audials weren’t malfunctioning.

Realization dawned on Terra first, his eyes going wide and cheeks flushing hotly. He clapped his hands over his mouth right as Drift’s engine stalled in shock, and it all went downhill from there.

The next step that Drift took faltered, his knee joints giving out from under him as the words sank in. He all but collapsed into the dirt below them with a resounding crash, his upper half remaining mostly upright while his legs folded awkwardly beneath him. Luckily, his servos remained locked around Terra, keeping him safe from what could have been a nasty fall or an opportunity to be accidentally crushed.

He merely gaped at Terra for a long, quiet moment, staring at the little human in wonder as the words looped in his processor. Terra remained quiet, staring up at Drift with wide eyes and a bright red face.

Drift swallowed, knowing that he should say... _something_. It took him a few times to get his vocalizer to cooperate, and when he could talk, his voice was tiny and thin with static.

"I... Terra... do you mean that?" he asked.

Terra’s eyes darted away as he considered the question, hands falling into his lap again. With a deep breath, he nodded.

"Yeah." His eyes bravely met Drift’s, and he placed a hand over the center of his own chest, voice firmer when he spoke again. "Yeah, I mean it. With all my heart."

Drift’s expression immediately softened at the admission, his spark whirling about in delight and his engine finally turning over again.

"Oh, Terra," he began, his words trembling almost as much as his servos. He cleared his intake and tried again. "This is... probably really silly sounding, but, I planned this whole date... this whole thing... for you?"

Terra’s brows pinched in confusion, and Drift offered him a small, wobbly smile before lifting his hands up to his face, nuzzling against Terra’s chest. "I was going to tell you that _I_ love _you_!" he explained before pulling away.

Drift brushed a single fingertip across Terra’s chest, his next words coming out in a rush. "This whole date was buildup. I’ve been planning this all out for months, and it’s been so hard to not tell you how I felt, but... I didn’t want to move it too fast," he said. "I’m just... glad you feel the same way."

He gazed down fondly at Terra, who looked just as surprised as Drift felt. A small laugh bubbled out of him, his arms wrapping around the finger that was pressed against his chest. He left a tiny kiss on the tip of the digit before turning his face upward, sending Drift a warm, loving grin that made his spark flutter.

"I... yeah. I definitely feel the same way. I love you, uh, _a lot_ ," Terra said, his face heating up more. "I’ve been wanting to say it for a while too, just didn’t want to, to... Y’know. I needed the right moment, I guess?"

Terra shook his head. "It sounded like you planned a lovely evening," he continued with another small laugh, "and I’m sure by the end of it I would’ve been properly wooed when you said those words. I’m... kinda sorry I ruined it."

"You didn’t ruin anything!" Drift quickly reassured him. "Now I can actually focus on us having fun, instead of being terrified while awaiting the inevitable."

Indeed, now that the enormous weight had been lifted off of him, Drift briefly wondered why he’d been so afraid of those little words to begin with. Looking at Terra now, he could clearly see the warmth and _love_ that he felt in his spark reflected in those bright blue eyes.

Drift gave a big, happy sigh, unable to resist the urge to smother him with tiny kisses - though, they probably weren’t all that tiny from Terra’s perspective. He didn’t really seem to mind, holding fairly still under Drift’s assault, though his body shook with laughter.

When Drift pulled away, Terra sent an adoring grin his way. "How about we make this fair, and you shrink down a little so I can return the favor?" he suggested.

In a matter of moments, Drift placed Terra on the ground, transformed into his alt mode, and activated his holoform, moving through the sequence much more quickly than he thought he was capable of. It was fast enough to make his head spin, though he only took a brief moment to orient himself, not wanting to waste any more time.

He turned toward Terra, all but throwing himself into his boyfriend’s arms. Drift was certain he’d end up toppling the both of them over, but Terra caught him with relative ease, holding him steady as he once again peppered that handsome face with soft kisses.

Terra waited patiently, allowing Drift to have his fun before angling his head a bit, just enough for Drift’s next kiss to land on his lips.

Drift found he didn’t want to pull away as quickly as he had with the other little pecks, and Terra took that as an opportunity to deepen the kiss. Terra’s arms tightened around him, and Drift all but melted in the embrace, feeling unbelievably safe and happy and loved.

When they drew back from the kiss, Terra was grinning at him, gaze soft as he gently bumped their noses together.

"So," Terra said, loosening his hold a little, "how about that date?"

Drift perked up at the reminder of the date, several weeks worth of meticulous planning nearly forgotten about in all the excitement. With a final soft kiss to Terra’s cheek, he reluctantly wiggled out of the loving embrace, holding his boyfriend’s hand instead so they could walk more easily.

"Alright! Let’s go this way, I wanted to show you something really neat," Drift said excitedly, tugging Terra’s hand to lead them onward. Terra followed him easily, his eyes alight with curiosity.

The bright, goofy grin remained plastered on Drift’s face for the entirety of their little walk, and would likely be there for the rest of the day. He couldn’t find it in himself to be too embarrassed about it, as he was unable and unwilling to hide the happiness he was feeling in this moment. He could tell that Terra was just as elated to get his feelings off of his chest, his face brimming with joy and adoration every time Drift looked up at him.

It didn’t really matter how the rest of the date went, honestly - all of those carefully arranged plans could completely fall apart, and Drift wouldn’t mind one bit. Knowing that his love for Terra was not only accepted but _returned_ wholeheartedly?

That was more than Drift could have ever hoped for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! It means a lot to us that you made it this far, we hope you had fun and enjoyed the story!


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